Assam-Meghalaya border issue: West Khasi Hills Regional Comm likely to visit disputed areas in next 10 days

Meghalaya cabinet minister and government spokesperson Paul Lyngdoh said that the Regional Committee for West Khasi Hills will visit the areas of differences in the district along the inter-state border with Assam in the next 10 days.
Lyngdoh who is also the Chairman of the Regional Committee informed that they would consult and deliberate with the traditional institutions as well as heads of the district administration before submitting a report to the government. He said that the Committee might take about 2 weeks or so to file the report.
When asked as to what the government is doing so that incidents of unrest do not affect the second phase of border talks, Paul Lyngdoh said, “We will make all effort to ensure that incidents of harassment do not take place. This (border issue) is a very contentious issue, but we would like to move forward. First and foremost, we would like to get the views of the local community. That would be a very viable approach.”
Paul Lyngdoh added that he has already spoken to the state home minister for strengthening patrolling in Meghalaya’s border districts.
Referring to Langpih, which is considered to be one of the most sensitive areas in terms of the inter-state border issue, Paul Lyngdoh said, “As far as Langpih is concerned the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) has already approved a project of setting up a local police outpost at Langpih. That must proceed.”
The minister further said that the Regional Committee would particularly emphasize on the documentation part. In this context, Paul Lyngdoh said, “wherever we have valid documents available with the local population, those will definitely strengthen our arguments in favour of Langpih to be included in Meghalaya.”