Bhubaneswar: The efforts of Andhra Pradesh to encroach Kotia panchayat in Koraput district by alluring the locals with various facilities seem to have boomeranged. Now, some villages in Andhra want to cross the border and merge with Odisha.
According to sources, the Andhra government’s attempts to lure tribal villagers of Kotia with development projects and freebies at the cost of negligence of its own people bordering Odisha have proved costly.
The people of villages in Andhra like Gadibandha, Danturai, Kandalapadu, Soupala and Gajed situated in close proximity to Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri are allured by the development works undertaken across the border.
Contrary to the facilities available in border villages of Odisha, the Andhra villagers are deprived of basic amenities in different aspects like all-weather roads, healthcare, education and power and water supply.
They claimed to have apprised the local administration of their problems several times to no avail. They still have to trek a long distance on non-motorable roads to carry the patients in cots and swings to hospitals.
“We are suffering a lot because of the roads. We want to merge with Odisha as our government has failed to take care of us and provide basic amenities,” a villager told a local TV channel.
Another villager said the government officials hardly visit his village for lack of motorable road. “While there is no drinking water supply or a school for our children, the government is yet to launch the free COVID vaccination in our village,” he said.
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