Borjhar, Jan. 23: Officials from Meghalaya police and administration allegedly stopped road development work at Bhalakhowa in Kamrup district last evening claiming the road to be theirs.

'The police from the neighbouring state had first stopped work and thereafter other officials too came to the site and intervened. But to our dismay, Assam police arrived after three hours. They reached the spot only after the Meghalaya officials had left. This is beyond our comprehension,' a resident of the area said.

Development work for the 1km stretch of the road from Muduki Chowk to Ouguri Lower Primary School was sanctioned under the road development fund of the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC).

Sources said the road would be sand gravelled (granular sub-base) at an estimated cost of Rs 15 lakh. The area falls under the jurisdiction of Silputa general council constituency.

Bhalakhowa in south Kamrup is located along the Assam-Meghalaya border and is about 56km from Guwahati.

'The area where the work is going on is under Assam's jurisdiction. We will restart the work after January 26,' Pankaj Chakraborty, Palasbari revenue circle officer, told this correspondent.

Downplaying the incident, Kamrup deputy commissioner J. Balaji said it is 'a case of misunderstanding on the part of Meghalaya police'. However, he said the matter would be taken up with the neighbouring state.

'After receiving a formal report from the circle officer, I will take up the matter with my counterpart from Meghalaya,' Balaji said.

As many as 3,000 inhabitants of five villages use the 3km road from Muduki Chowk to Longshai to travel either to Meghalaya or Guwahati.

Sources said people have faced difficulty in travelling on the dilapidated stretch where puddles of mudwater are a common sight during the monsoon.

'Work to improve the road was taken up only a couple of days back. Considering the importance of surface infrastructure for border residents, the entire road will be developed in a phased manner,' Rashmi Rabha, the councillor of the area said.

Kamrup district shares a 99km boundary with Meghalaya.

In the meantime, a 10-member group from four villages today submitted a formal complaint to Palasbari police, requesting the authorities to take immediate steps to restart work on the stretch.