Guwahati, Mar 15 (PTI) Opposition Congress legislator Nandita Das on Tuesday claimed in the Assam Assembly that miscreants were creating trouble in certain areas along the state's border with Meghalaya.

She cited the instances of alleged shop vandalisation and tree felling in Malang-Khalbari area of her Boko constituency, which is located close to the interstate boundary, to make her point.

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Das, however, clarified that the troubled areas she was referring to was not part of the disputed zones along the interstate border.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika, replying to Das, said that an enquiry was underway in the matter.

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“We are conducting a probe to find out if it is a case of personal animosity or is related to border dispute,” the minister said.

He also maintained that progress had been made in resolving the interstate border row in an amiable manner and opinions of residents in the disputed areas were being taken into consideration for arriving at a final solution.

Other factors such as geographical location, historical claims and ethnicity of locals were also being considered, Hazarika stated.

"The residents of the disputed areas suffer the most due to boundary-related problems. Both our governments are working together to resolve it, under the guidance of the Centre," he noted.

Hazarika cited the example of a village that Assam claims as its territory but falls geographically in Meghalaya, and said that it was one of the points of disputes that had been taken up for resolution.

"All people of this particular village want to remain with Assam. We have requested the Meghalaya government to give us access to this village through a road. And they have also almost agreed to our request.

"I am using the term 'almost agreed' as any final decision will have to have the nod of the Centre and Parliament," he added.

Hazarika said in some areas, 10-20 per cent residents differ in their opinion with the rest, but the government has to act as per the majority demand.

Assam and Meghalaya have identified 12 points of disputes and six out of these have been taken up for resolution in the first phase.

Three committees were set up by the two state governments in August 2021 for pursuing matters in connection with these six points. Both Hazarika and Das are members of one of these panels.

The recommendations made by the three committees were later submitted by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on January 20.

According to the recommendations, out of the 36.79 sq km of disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam will get full control of 18.51 sq km, while Meghalaya will be in charge of over 18.28 sq km land.

Sarma, after submitting the recommendations to Shah, had told the media that the ball was now in the Centre's court to take any final call.

Meghalaya, carved out of Assam in 1972, had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to disputes in 12 areas along the 884.9-km-long interstate border.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)