Photo Courtesy: nenews
Shillong: Meghalaya remains in a diplomatic holding pattern. The state is waiting for formal communication from Assam to launch the second phase of border negotiations. Officials have reconstituted three regional committees to address six long-standing disputed sectors. These include Langpih, Borduar, Nongwah-Mawtamur, Deshdoonreah, Block-II, and the Block-I/Psiar-Khanduli area, which encompasses the flashpoint of Lapangap-Mukroh.
Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar confirmed the state is still waiting for Dispur to name its panels. "It will be a continuity of the exercise done by the previous regional committees," Dhar said. The committees face a 45-day deadline to submit reports, but that timeline stays shaky without a confirmed start date for joint inspections. Meghalaya’s own internal reports on these territories are nearly ready for review by the Chief Minister’s Office.
The push to settle these borders follows a March 2022 deal that resolved six earlier disputes. For now, tensions in areas like Lapangap have cooled into an uneasy status quo. An interim agreement allows Pnar farmers to work paddy fields in the foothills, while residents from Tapat in Karbi Anglong continue to harvest pineapple, banana, and ginger on higher ground. Government officials insist the situation is normal, though local groups like the Hynniewtrep Border Dispute Redressal Forum demand the 1958 boundary notification remain the core basis for any final settlement.
Beyond the borders, former minister Kyrmen Shylla is pushing to move away from open-cast coal mining in East Jaintia Hills. He is drafting a proposal for a new extraction method to replace current practices. While Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma insists that ties between the states remain cordial, the jurisdictional vacuum in border villages persists. Both governments maintain that consensus, not conflict, will drive the remaining negotiations.
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