Guwahati, Dec 25: Assam’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan has claimed that as many as 6,800 sq kilometers of land in Assam has been either wiped out due to erosion or encroached upon by people within the state and by four neighbouring states.
Jogen Mohan, in a written reply to the Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia’s question regarding land encroachment in Assam, said Mizoram has encroached 18,242.33 bighas of Assam’s forest land while Arunachal Pradesh encroached 81,688.17 bigha, 2 katha and 16 lesas of land.
The annual waves of erosion has wiped out 1,141 villages inhabited by over 58,000 families.
Minister Mohan said that of these erosion-hit families, 5,028 have been issued landless citizen certificates and another 23,995 families have been given land allotments.
Assam-Mizoram border conflict
In July this year there were clashes along Assam-Mizoram border which resulted in the death of seven people and injuries to several others. The Union Home ministry had to intervene.
Later, Assam and Mizoram Governments agreed to maintain peace in the inter-state border areas.
Assam – Meghalaya border dispute
The regional committees on the borders of Assam and Meghalaya will submit their reports to the respective governments by January 15 next year.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday had a meeting on the border dispute.
Dispute with Arunachal and Nagaland
Recently Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu met in New Delhi and discuss measures to settle border dispute.
Also, on the Assam- Nagaland border, both the sides have agreed that the security personnel of both states will simultaneously move back from their present locations to their respective base camps.
