SHILLONG, Jan 5: Meghalaya has submitted its claims over 61 villages under the Langpih sector, which is among the six remaining unresolved areas of difference with Assam.
The regional committees constituted by Meghalaya and Assam will soon submit their respective final report after a joint visit to villages under the Langpih sector in West Khasi Hills district.
Chairman of the regional committee for West Khasi Hills, Paul Lyngdoh said, “During our meetings, we have submitted a list of 61 villages and these are being studied by the government of Assam.”
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“We have had detailed discussions even on those villages and the discussions have gone on a very positive note,” he added.
He said that the 61 villages are mostly inhabited by Khasi and Garo populations while some are with mixed populations and a couple of villages with Nepali residents.
Lyngdoh, who is also cabinet minister, said the joint field visit with Assam counterpart was supposed to happen in the month of November. He informed that he had spoken to the chairman in charge of the Kamrup district sector Chandra Mohan Patowary, who had expressed his inability to attend the joint visit and requested for time, which is why matters are still pending now.
“But I am pursuing the matter with him (Patowary). This is a bilateral matter and Meghalaya cannot act unilaterally. We cannot submit a report without our Assam counterpart visiting the sites along with us, but it will happen,” he said while adding, “I assure you that as soon as we get the final word from Patowary, we will organize a couple of days of visits to the disputed areas and then submit our final reports. Preparatory meetings have already been held and detailed discussions have taken place both in Guwahati and Shillong. Once the field visits are made, we will submit the final report.”
Lyngdoh said the committee will also seek an extension of time for submission of the final report after the government had recently fixed December 31 last year as the deadline.
Further, the chairman of the regional committee said that the field visit is just to instill a sense of confidence among people in disputed areas that the two governments are working in tandem to resolve all differences so that they live with a sense of security.
