Itanagar: The Durpai Development Committee (DDC) in Arunachal Pradesh‘s Lower Siang district has rejected the looping system proposed to resolve the boundary dispute with Assam.
The DDC, in a press conference on Saturday, said that the looping system would be unacceptable as Durpai is the oldest village in Kangku Circle and has been inhabited by the Ahoms since time immemorial.
The DDC general secretary, Regi Bui, said that the villagers have documents to prove that they have been paying revenue to the Arunachal government and have been issued timber permits by the state.
“The villagers of Durpai are original inhabitants of the state of Arunachal Pradesh since time immemorial, and are affected by the boundary dispute. Durpai has been transferred to the state of Assam by forming a loop system as per the MoU,” Bui said.
He also said that there has been no development in the village from the Assam side.
The DDC has demanded that the government rectify the looping system and adopt the ‘as is where is’ principle to resolve the dispute.
The committee has also threatened to boycott the revisit of the regional boundary committee and resort to agitation if their demands are not met.
The Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border dispute has been going on for decades. The two states share a nearly 800-kilometer-long boundary and the disputed areas that the MoU deals with comprise 123 boundary villages, spanning 12 districts of Arunachal and eight districts of Assam.