Border Disputes: 96 Villages Caught Between Odisha & Four Neighbouring States

Bhubaneswar: Kotia gram panchayat in Pottangi block of Koraput district has long been entangled in border dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It again hogged the headlines this January when a team of Andhra Pradesh government visited a few villages in the panchayat and launched their welfare programmes, besides distributing old-age pensions among a few beneficiaries.

There were also reports about construction of a road in one of the disputed village Tala Ganjeipadar.

Kotia gram panchayat has 28 villages of which 21 are on disputed zone between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh since 1956.

However, Andhra Pradesh is not the only state with which Odisha has border disputes.

In response to a question by BJP MLA Dilip Ray, Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty informed the Odisha Assembly on Monday that Odisha has border disputes with four neighbouring states, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The 96 disputed villages are spread over 10 districts of the state.

In his written reply, the minister said seven rivers, a canal and eight jungles also come under the disputed areas.

In 1968, the State Government had moved the Supreme Court over its dispute with Andhra Pradesh, pertaining to Kotia group of 21 villages and Boramutha and its 12 hamlets. While the apex court dismissed the Boramutha case, it asked both states to maintain status quo with regards to Kotia till the matter was resolved by competent authority, he said.

In the wake of reports of intrusion activities by Andhra Pradesh officials in Kotia despite the Supreme Court order, the minister said a high-level meeting was convened to discuss the matter. The state government has decided to initiate steps for development of education and health infrastructure, construction of roads, provision of electricity and drinking water and opening police station in the region, he said.

Aadhaar cards will also be distributed among villagers in camps, he added.

Besides Kotia and Boramutha groups of villages, 21 villages in Ganjam district, 16 villages in Gajapati district and five villages in Rayagada have been the cause of dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh; six in Balasore and eight in Mayurbhanj with West Bengal; two in Mayurbhanj, five in Keonjhar and six in Sundargarh district with Jharkhand and four in Nabarangpur and one in Jharsuguda with Chhattisgarh, the minister informed.