Assam’s Land Under Siege: Nearly 83,000 Hectares Encroached by Four Neighboring States

The Assam government on Wednesday informed the state assembly that nearly 83,000 hectares of land belonging to Assam has been encroached upon by four neighboring states—Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.

Replying to a question by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, Assam Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora said that a total of 82,751.8618 hectares of land across 17 districts of Assam is under encroachment. According to the data shared, Nagaland has encroached 59,490.21 hectares, Arunachal Pradesh has taken over 16,144.0117 hectares, Mizoram has encroached 3,675.78 hectares, and Meghalaya has occupied 3,441.8601 hectares.

The affected districts include Golaghat, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Charaideo, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Cachar, Kamrup, West Karbi Anglong, South Salmara Mankachar, Karimganj (now Sribhumi), and Hailakandi.

The Assam government is holding discussions with neighboring states to resolve the long-standing border disputes. Assam and Meghalaya, which had 12 disputed sectors along their 884.9 km boundary, resolved issues in six sectors through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on March 29, 2022, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Similarly, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have formed 12 regional committees to jointly inspect disputed areas and hold discussions with local communities. On April 20, 2023, an MoU was signed between the two states in New Delhi, resolving disputes in 71 out of 123 villages, with timelines set for finalizing boundaries for the remaining villages.

For the Assam-Mizoram border dispute, government-level discussions are ongoing. Bora assured the assembly that efforts are being made to find amicable solutions while ensuring the protection of Assam’s territorial integrity.

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