Mizoram, Assam agree to maintain status quo amid fresh border tensions
Both sides agreed to strengthen coordination and prevent such incidents in the future. The matter will also be referred to higher authorities.
A file image of Mizoram CM Lalduhoma and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Aizawl, Aug 22: Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Friday announced that his state and Assam have agreed to maintain the status quo in disputed border areas, following fresh tensions along the inter-state boundary.
Speaking at the Mizoram Police Service Association (MPSA) conference in Aizawl, Lalduhoma said he had spoken to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding the latest incident.
"We have agreed to continue to respect and maintain the status quo in the disputed areas along the inter-state border, which we have already discussed earlier," the chief minister said.
The tension erupted after Assam police and forest officials allegedly entered Saikhawthlir village in Mizoram’s Mamit district on August 15 and damaged around 290 rubber plants cultivated by locals under the Chief Minister’s Rubber Mission. The plantation was being managed by Mizoram’s Land Resources, Soil and Water Conservation Department.
Following the incident, deputy commissioners and police chiefs of Mizoram’s Mamit and Assam’s Hailakandi districts held a meeting on Monday to defuse the situation.
Both sides agreed to strengthen coordination and prevent such incidents in the future. The matter will also be referred to higher authorities.
During the meeting, both states reiterated their claims over the disputed area. Mamit DC K. Laltlawmlova maintained that the land falls under the Kawrtha Forest Division and is part of the official map prepared by Mizoram’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department.
Hailakandi DC Abhishek Jain, however, countered that the area lies within the Inner Line Reserve Forest of Gharmura range in Assam, protected under the Reserved Forest Act, 1980.
He further said that planting rubber trees within a 1.5 km radius of Assam territory could violate the Act and attract the attention of the National Green Tribunal.
Mizoram’s Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit districts share a 164.6 km border with Assam’s Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts — a long-standing flashpoint between the two states.
PTI