Deputy Chief Minister and Chairman of the Regional Committee for West Jaintia Hills, Sniawbhalang Dhar, on Friday clarified that the recent clash along the Assam-Meghalaya border in Lapangap was not linked to any territorial dispute but arose over a local harvesting issue. He assured that “as of now the situation in Lapangap is normal, it’s under control, hopefully it will be ok in the next few days.”
The statement came a day after a clash between Karbi and Pnar villagers along the interstate border led to the death of one person. “Since the incident took place that is because of harvesting by locals only, rest of the matter about the border — actually this is not a Border issue problem,” Dhar said, adding that the Chief Ministers of both states have spoken and are closely monitoring the situation to ensure it does not escalate.
When asked about the status of the area, Dhar explained, “Some areas (from Khanduli and Psiar) along the border are under dispute, but the incident occurred in an area that is not disputed. The regional committees of both states will decide on the status of the area.”
He further elaborated, “Right from Khanduli some areas are disputed and some are not. The area where the incident happened yesterday is not a disputed area actually, but a few areas may fall under Meghalaya and a few under Assam. The Regional Committee has to decide, not the District Administrations. The decision is pending on which area it falls under. Some Assam farmers are farming on the Meghalaya side while some Meghalaya farmers are farming on the Assam side.”
Dhar said the district administration has been instructed to coordinate with their Assam counterparts to maintain peace and ensure that harvesting continues smoothly. “We want to ensure that after discussions, harvesting should take place normally as usual,” he added.
