Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday once again reiterated his government’s stand that no construction of any nature by anyone else other than the Meghalaya government and its agencies would be allowed anywhere in areas under Meghalaya’s jurisdiction.
“Anything within the jurisdiction of Meghalaya, if it is done by anybody, any other government or any autonomous body that will not be allowed,” CM Sangma said.
His statement comes amid reports saying that Assam is planning to re-construct a Forest Beat office in Mukroh, an area that falls in Meghalaya.
Responding to reporters’ question on the issue, the CM said that he will definitely take up the matter with his Assam counterpart if the construction is happening within the jurisiction of Meghalaya and reiterated that such activities will not be allowed.
The Meghalaya Chief Minister further informed that he had multiple discussions with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the last 2 days pertaining to the matter and said that more such discussions are on the cards. Sangma said, “We are in constant touch and we are ensuring that communication happens at the highest level.” Conrad Sangma said that the main focus would be to prevent such incidents in the future and ensure that no instigation leads to such kind of unrest.
Responding to a query regarding the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council allegedly playing ‘local’ politics leading to a volatile situation, CM Sangma said that his government will ensure proper communication is established with all the concerned agencies and organizations to minimise misunderstandings and friction.
Replying to a query on the status of border outposts, the Meghalaya Chief Minister said that all such facilities have been sanctioned and people have already been sent to the designated areas. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed that the deployment of a platoon consisting of 30 personnel have already been regularized in Mukroh and termed it as a permanent post.
Chief Minister Sangma added that earlier whenever the border outposts were setup, the decision was taken internally by the forest department, which meant people are transferred from one lcoation to another without creating any sanctioned posts. However, in the last cabinet meeting the government decided to sanction the border outposts for people to be appointed on a regularized basis.
It may be mentioned, 5 Meghalaya residents were killed in the firing incident at Mukroh on November 22. The people were killed when Assam Police and Assam forest guards opened fire to disperse a mob that had gathered after the Assam forest guards had stopped a truck carrying timber in Mukroh, West Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya.
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