Seven more border disputes; not just Mizoram-Assam

Ground Report | New Delhi: Seven more border disputes; Given the prevailing situation, the people of Assam are advised not to travel to Mizoram as no threat to the personal safety of the people of Assam can be accepted. While in Mizoram, they must exercise extreme caution."

Usually, such instructions or advisories are issued by a country for the safety of its citizens abroad. But the instructions that you have read above are issued by the Government of Assam. This may be the first step by the Assam government after the recent violent clashes along the Assam-Mizoram border, but the inter-state border dispute in India is several years old.

On July 26, 6 Assam Police personnel were killed and several policemen were injured in a violent clash along the Assam-Mizoram border.

The very next day after this incident, the Union Home Ministry, in response to a question, told the Lok Sabha that there are seven such cases in the country where there are disputes over the demarcation of the states and different claims on the land.

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Seven more border disputes

Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border dispute

The border between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh is about 804 km long. Arunachal's complaint is that during the reorganization of the north-eastern states many forest areas in the plains were transferred to Assam, which traditionally belonged to the hill tribes.

Assam-Nagaland border dispute

Assam maintains that Nagaland has illegally encroached on its borders and is taking adequate steps to stop it. The Assam government has also filed a case in the Supreme Court to identify the border and settle the border dispute with Nagaland.

Assam-Meghalaya border dispute

Seven districts of Assam, including the Kamrup Metro, share borders with North and West Meghalaya. There are deep border disputes between the two states at 12 places in these areas.

Recently, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma held a meeting in Shillong and said that instead of maintaining status quo, both the states will now take action to resolve these border disputes. In the past also, both the states have been making efforts at the bilateral level to find a mutually acceptable solution.

On the orders of the Central Government, both the states have appointed nodal officers and these officers have been meeting from time to time to resolve the border problems of the two states and to reduce the differences between the two states.

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Assam-Mizoram border dispute

There is a 164.6 km long interstate border between Assam and Mizoram. This border touches Cachar, Hailakandi, and Karimganj districts of Assam and Kolasib, Mamit, and Aizawl districts of Mizoram.

Under colonial rule, Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills and was a part of Assam. The region was made a separate union territory only in 1972 and became a full-fledged state in 1987.

Haryana-Himachal Pradesh border dispute

There is an interstate border dispute between Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in Parwanoo. A recent Survey of India report states that Himachal Pradesh has occupied some land of Haryana in Parwanoo. The Himachal Pradesh government has recently got the officials of the Revenue and Forest Department to inspect the disputed site.

Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh border dispute

Situated on the Leh-Manali Highway, Sarchu is a disputed area between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. This place is between Lahaul-Spiti of Himachal Pradesh and Leh district of Ladakh.

The border dispute at Sarchu began in 2014 when the Jammu and Kashmir Police set up a post there. Himachal Pradesh, after probing the matter, claimed that the post made by the J&K Police was at a distance of 14 kms within the Himachal border. The controversy has continued since then. The Himachal Pradesh government has also taken up the matter with the Surveyor General of India.

Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute

Maharashtra claims an area of ​​about 7,000 square kilometers on its border with Karnataka. It mainly consists of 814 villages in Belagavi (Belgaum), Uttara Kannada, Bidar, and Gulbarga districts and the cities of Belagavi, Nippani, and Karwar. All these areas are mostly Marathi speaking, so Maharashtra claims them and wants them to be merged with Maharashtra.

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