KORAPUT: With the fresh row over inter-state boundary in Koraput’s Pottangi block, the administration has moved the state government to take steps for joint verification of the inter-state border with its Andhra Pradesh counterparts.
Official sources said people of Sunabeda Mouza under Sambai panchayat in Pottangi block have alleged that the neighbouring state has intruded a few metres inside Sunabeda village.
Following allegations from the villagers, a team of district officials toured the area to take stock of the situation on November 9 and placed a stone to mark Odisha boundary.
However, tension erupted in the area again on Sunday after officers from Andhra Pradesh along with few of their political leaders arrived in the village and removed the mark. “The Andhra Pradesh government is intruding into our territory and claiming certain portions of our village as its own. They replaced the stone marks put up by our government and replaced it with their own. We strongly condemn such acts of the Andhra Pradesh government,” said Pilabad Guntha, sarpanch of Sambai panchayat.
“Steps need to be taken by the state government at the earliest for an early solution to the boundary row. Or else, the situation may spill out of control,” he added.
Claiming that the developments are being closely monitored, collector (Koraput) Madhusudan Mishra said, “We have moved the state government for joint verification of the inter-state border near Sunabeda. All development activities in and around the village have been taken care of by the state government and our officials regularly visit the area”.
The Odisha government is already entangled in a six-decade-old legal battle with Andhra Pradesh over the ownership of 21 villages in Kotia panchayat of Pottangi block, which both the states claim to be their own. Earlier in the month the Koraput district administration had lodged a strong protest after the Andhra Pradesh government reportedly intruded into certain areas in Narayanpatna block.