Guwahati: Nearly 83,000 hectares of Assam land are currently being occupied by Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, the state Assembly was informed on Wednesday.Border protection and development minister Atul Bora, replying to a query by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, said 82,751.86 hectares across 18 Assam districts are presently under the control of the four neighbouring states.Out of all the occupying states, Nagaland has captured the highest area at 59,490.21 hectares, spreading in four districts — Jorhat, Sivasagar, Golaghat and Charaideo. On the other hand, Meghalaya occupies 3,441.86 hectares in five districts — Kamrup, Goalpara, Cachar, South Salmara-Mankachar and West Karbi Anglong, the minister added.Arunachal Pradesh occupies 16,144.01 hectares in Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Charaideo districts, while Mizoram occupies 3,675.78 hectares in Hailakandi, Sribhumi and Cachar districts, Bora said.“The Assam govt has progressed to settle these border disputes with the neighbouring states through dialogues. We have already signed bipartite agreements with Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh as per instructions of the Union home ministry. The progress of the solution to the border disputes with the neighbouring states is at a different stage,” the minister said.“There are 12 boundary disputes between Assam and Meghalaya, which are Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Lampi, Borduar, Bakalapara, Nongwa-Motamur, Khanapara-Pilinkata, Deshdumoria, Block-1 & Block-2, Pisiara Khanduli and Ratachera,” Bora said.“In the first phase, out of these 12 areas, regional committees from both states were formed for six sectors — Tarabari, Hahim, Gizang, Bakalapara, Khanapara-Pillingkata, and Ratachera. These committees jointly visited the border regions, consulted local residents, exchanged views, and submitted reports to their respective govts. Based on those reports and a joint decision by both govts, steps were taken to define the inter-state boundary. Accordingly, on March 26, 2022, in New Delhi and in the presence of the Union home minister, the chief ministers of the two states signed a memorandum of understanding for these six areas. Works for demarcation of boundaries are at different stages in different areas,” he added.For the remaining six disputed areas, Bora said both states have constituted six regional committees, which are holding mutual discussions, jointly visiting the sites, and engaging with local people to resolve the boundary disputes.
