Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 6 (HBTV): The Assam government informed the state assembly on Wednesday that nearly 83,000 hectares of land belonging to Assam have been encroached upon by four neighbouring states.

Replying to a question by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, Assam Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora stated that a total of 82,751.86 hectares across 17 districts of Assam have been encroached upon by Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.

According to government data, Nagaland has encroached on 59,490.21 hectares, Arunachal Pradesh on 16,144.01 hectares, Mizoram on 3,675.78 hectares, and Meghalaya on 3,441.86 hectares.

The affected districts include Golaghat, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Charaideo, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Cachar, Kamrup, West Karbi Anglong, South Salmara Mankachar, Karimganj (now Sribhumi), and Hailakandi.

The minister further stated that discussions at the government level are ongoing with the neighbouring states to resolve border disputes.

Assam and Meghalaya had 12 disputed sectors along their 884.9 km boundary, and disputes in six of these sectors were settled through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on March 29, 2022, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

‘Similarly, both the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments have formed 12 regional committees. These committees have jointly visited the bordering areas, engaged with local residents, and taken measures to resolve inter-state border disputes. On April 20, 2023, an MoU was signed between the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Of the 123 disputed villages, 71 have been amicably resolved under the MoU, and timelines have been set for finalizing the boundaries of the remaining villages. Discussions are also ongoing at the government level to resolve the border dispute with Mizoram,’ said Atul Bora.

(ANI)