Shillong, Mar 31: The Survey of India has been asked to coordinate with Meghalaya and Assam for joint surveys before a Bill to redraw the boundary of the two states is introduced in the Parliament for its consideration.

“They (Survey of India) have been asked to coordinate with both the state governments and do joint surveys. Once that process is completed then we expect the Government of India to put up a Bill to reorganize or redraw the border and that will then put up in parliament and that will be the final stamp on it,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told reporters on Thursday.

His statement came after Meghalaya and Assam had signed the historic agreement to end the 50-year-old dispute in 6 of 12 areas of difference shared between the two states, at New Delhi on March 29, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Stating that the process will take some time to work on, Sangma however said, “But what is important is that this process has finally started and I keep maintaining that there are two-three things that a lot of people must understand that number one it is a question of trust building. We have seen that this exercise has allowed us to build trust between the states and the stakeholders also and number two, this has also allowed us to lay down some principles on the basis of which we will move forward and three, most importantly it has set the ball rolling where you are actually seeing the officials whether district or state level or the central level – we are all aware and involved in the process.”

He also referred to the recent incident of certain pillars being put up in West Khasi Hills and said, “Immediately within a matter of minutes I spoke to the Assam CM and he was very concerned about this and said this shouldn’t have happened at all and I will give immediate instruction to my team. This kind of an environment will obviously lead to a proper implementation of the project as well as peace in the area and both the states will work towards ensuring that while we resolve this issue, the people of these areas should not suffer.”

He claimed that both the states have come to a significantly good position to finally find the conclusion and solution to the problems in the border areas.

Asked as to when the two states resolve the remaining six areas of difference, the chief minister said assured that both the state governments will do their best to take the next phase forward.

“We will catch our breath for some time. It’s been a tough six months. It has not been easy but we are not going to waste time I can assure you that. We want the momentum to continue with the kind of understanding and the trust that has built up between the officials at all levels and with the political leadership I think it is an appropriate time to take discussion forward,” he said adding “We will do it very soon I don’t think it is possible for me to give a date but I can assure the people of our state and the region we are concern about this and we will do our best to take the next phase also forward.”

On the allegation that the agreement was signed in a hasty manner, the chief minister said that it is quite unfortunate to see the opposition bringing this issue up and saying that there should have been consultations with the stakeholder.”

He said in fact earlier there were no stakeholder consultations “but for the first time we actually went down to the grass root and it is the will of the people and after discussion with the people this solution has been reached.”

“If any concerns are there, we are ready to again explain to everybody about this but majority of the stakeholders are very happy with how we have gone ahead with this,” he further claimed.

Meanwhile, the chief minister asked the opposition to realize that they don’t have to oppose everything the government is doing and that they should work together with the government in the interest of the state and the people.

“This is the time we should be together as the people of the state especially the people of the border areas have suffered for far too long and development has been affected, people’s lives have been put in danger – this cannot go on forever. Therefore, we have taken a decision that we will find a solution and I am happy that with the help of the Ministry of Home Affairs and with the cooperation of the Assam CM that we have finally able to come to this point in the six locations and I am hopeful that we will be able to move forward in the other six locations also,” he said.