Shillong: The joint survey of the disputed
borders along Bangladesh-Meghalaya, that is expected to pave
the way for settlement of the boundary dispute, will be
completed by January 15.
"The target date for completion of the exercise that
began yesterday is January 15," Meghalaya Revenue Minister R C
Laloo said Thursday.
The exercise is being conducted by survey and land
records officials of Bangladesh and Meghalaya.
The verification will be conducted in 12 disputed
patches bordering Meghalaya, stretches of which are under
`adverse possession` of either countries, the minister said.
It was a long pending issue and the government wanted
to resolve it expeditiously, he said.
According to official records, currently, there are
551.8 acre of Bangladeshi land under `adverse possession` of
India while 226.81 acre of Indian land is under adverse
possession of Bangladesh.
The areas under adverse possession, 12 of them in
Meghalaya sector, were created when the two countries
demarcated the international boundary in the mid-1960s.
These figures are, however, approximate. The survey
will estimate a final figure which would be placed at the next
meeting of the Joint Boundary Working Group for a decison
on the next course of action, Laloo said.
Officials said, of the 571 km of the sanctioned
fencing work on the Bangladesh border of Assam and Meghalaya,
only 248 km has been completed.
Work is in progress in 123 km, while there have been
objections either from Meghalaya or from Bangladesh in the
remaining stretches.
PTI
