Centre only a facilitator: Govt on inter-state disputes

New Delhi, July 27: Inter-state border disputes can "only" be resolved with the cooperation of state governments involved in the matter and the Centre just acts as a facilitator in such cases, the Union government informed Parliament on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said this in a written statement to the Lok Sabha in response to a question on the role of the Union government in redressing border disputes between states in the country.

"The approach of the central government has consistently been that inter-state disputes can be resolved only with the cooperation of the state governments concerned and that the central government acts only as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the dispute in the spirit of mutual understanding," Rai said.

He cited at least seven such disputes in the country with Assam being involved in four.

According to available information, there are boundary disputes arising out of demarcation of boundaries and claims and counter-claims over territories between Haryana-Himachal Pradesh, Union Territory of Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra-Karnataka, Assam-Arunachal Pradesh, Assam-Nagaland, Assam-Meghalaya and Assam-Mizoram, he said.

"Occasional protests and incidents of violence are reported from some of the disputed areas," the minister said.

On Monday, at least five Assam Police personnel were killed while defending the "constitutional boundary" of the state with Mizoram as the festering border dispute between the two northeastern states erupted into a bloody conflict, officials said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier claimed six police personnel were killed in action during the clashes. An Assam government statement revised the figure just before midnight and said that five state police personnel died and more than 50 people of the force were injured.