SHILLONG — Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said that a joint committee will be set up to look into issues flagged by his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma against a private university.
Sarma last month launched a series of attacks against the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM), and its proprietor Mahbabul Haque who is also its chancellor.
One of the accusations the Assam chief minister made was the varsity was responsible for the large-scale water-logging in Guwahati.
"The Assam chief minister and I had a conversation on the issue of USTM. We have decided that we will constitute a joint committee consisting of officials from both states. It will look into all the concerns raised by the Assam CM," Sangma told PTI.
The chief secretaries of the two northeastern neighbours are in touch to constitute the panel comprising officials of Meghalaya and Assam.
Sarma accused USTM of engaging in a ‘flood jihad’ by demolishing hills on its campus to build new structures, which he claims has led to large-scale waterlogging in Guwahati. USTM is located in the 9th Mile area in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district on the outskirts of Guwahati including Jorabat.
The varsity, however, said its campus accounts for a ‘minuscule portion’ of the water that flows to downstream areas such as Jorabat.
The Assam CM also claimed that the designs of the university's gate are Islamic.
In another attack, Sarma said the Assam government will file a case against Haque for allegedly obtaining an OBC certificate fraudulently from the state’s Karimganj district 32 years ago.
"We are hopeful that the committee will be able to resolve the issues there," the Meghalaya chief minister said.
Other issues, if any, will also be taken up by the panel which will start functioning within a week, Sangma said.