Northeastern States' Boundary Squabbles To Be Resolved

AIZAWL: The Modi government has taken the initiative to resolve the long pending boundary disputes between the northeastern states, officials said.

"Survey of India (SoI) officials at the behest of the union government have started talks with the officials of the northeastern states to solve the border disputes among the northeastern states," an SoI official told IANS.

The official, refusing to disclose his identity, said: "Based on our toposheet, we would talk to the officials of northeastern states. Our officials accompanied by concerned officials of these states, if necessary, could conduct a joint survey along the disputed borders."

'Toposheet' or 'Topographic sheet' essentially contains information about an area like roads, railways, settlements, canals, rivers, electric poles, various offices and installations.

Survey of India (SoI), India's national survey and mapping organisation under the department of Science and Technology, maintains the toposheet.

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur share disputed borders with one another and occasionally villagers, officials and security forces have engaged in skirmishes over this long pending issue.

Officials of Tripura and Mizoram in the presence of SoI officials met in Silchar, the main town of southern Assam, last week and discussed the border issues between the two states.

"The Mizoram government has been claiming the Bethling hill at Fulldangsai village (along Tripura-Mizoram border) is their territory under the 1933 Assam government gazette notification. We strongly rejected the claim," Tripura revenue department secretary Swapan Saha told IANS.

Saha, who led the Tripura delegation in the Silchar meeting, said: "In the toposheet of SoI, the strategically located hill falls in the Tripura territory. Around 50 Mizo families, residing in the hill, are not only Tripura residents, their names have been enrolled in various Tripura government documents, including electoral lists, for many decades."

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