Tensions Rise Along Assam-Mizoram Border Over Rubber Plantation Dispute

Meeting to Address Border Tensions

Aizawl, August 20: A significant meeting took place between the Deputy Commissioners and police leaders from Mizoram's Mamit district and Assam's Hailakandi district to ease rising tensions along their inter-state border. This meeting was prompted by allegations that Assam forest officials had destroyed a rubber plantation.

Held at Bairabi, close to the Assam border, Mamit's deputy commissioner K. Laltlawmlova informed Assam representatives that the area where the rubber trees were damaged is part of the Kawrtha forest division. This area is included in the map created by the GIS cell of Mizoram's Environment, Forest and Climate Change department.

He emphasized that Mamit is situated within a reserved forest area, and the local population has rights to utilize this reserve.

Conversely, Hailakandi's deputy commissioner Abhishek Jain clarified that the incident involving the rubber planters near Saikhawthlir village was not a border dispute but rather a misunderstanding related to plantation activities in the reserved forest.

According to a statement from Jain’s office, the affected area is classified as part of the inner line reserve forest, Gharmura range in Hailakandi, and is protected under the Reserved Forest Act of 1980.

Jain pointed out that section 2A of the Reserved Forest Act prohibits the planting of rubber trees and other vegetation within the inner line forest area.

He warned Mizoram officials that planting rubber trees within a 1.5 km radius of Assam territory could violate the Reserved Forest Act and attract scrutiny from the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The meeting aimed to find an amicable resolution and agreed on implementing better measures to prevent future incidents. It was also decided to escalate the matter to higher authorities.

On August 15, Assam police and forest officials reportedly entered the Saikhawthlir village area in Mamit district, damaging approximately 290 rubber plants cultivated by local villagers.

This incident heightened tensions along the inter-state border. Officials from Mizoram have asserted that the plantation is part of the Chief Minister's Rubber Mission, overseen by the state's land resources, soil, and water conservation department.

Three districts in Mizoram—Aizawl, Kolasib, and Mamit—share a 164.6 km border with Assam's Cachar, Sribhumi, and Hailakandi districts.

The long-standing border dispute primarily arises from two conflicting colonial-era demarcations: one established in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) and another from 1933.

Mizoram claims that 509 square miles of the Inner Line Reserved Forest (ILRF) defined in 1875 under the BEFR is its rightful territory. In contrast, Assam maintains that the border defined by a 1933 map prepared by the Survey of India is its constitutional boundary.

Since August 2021, the two northeastern states have conducted four rounds of ministerial-level discussions, along with negotiations and virtual meetings at the official level to address the long-standing border issue.

During the last official-level discussions held in Guwahati in April, both states agreed to uphold the status quo in the disputed areas and to expedite responses to claims made by Mizoram.