Sharmili Mallick

A couple of days after the Andhra Pradesh administration held a gram sabha at Ganjeipadar village under Kotia panchayat of Pottangi block in Odisha’s Koraput, district collector Abdaal M Akhtar visited several villages of the panchayat and held discussions with the people about their issues on Saturday.

As per reports, Akhtar visited Madkar, Doliambo, Phatuseneri, Phagunaseneri and British Road in the disputed Kotia panchayat and reviewed the progress of the ongoing developmental works in the region.

Akhtar also assessed the damages caused by the cyclone Gulab. The district collector inspected the bridge at Madkar, a road and a bridge at Tadibalsa near British Road that were washed in rain triggered by the cyclone.

Koraput Project Director of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Pottangi Block Development Officer (BDO), Panchayat Officer of Kotia, officials from Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), and engineers of Rural Development Department accompanied the Koraput Collector during his visit to Kotia.

Two days back, the officials of Salur Mandal in Andhra Pradesh had conducted a gram sabha at Ganjeipadar and tried to lure villagers by assuring them that the Andhra government will take up several development projects in the region.

Earlier on Wednesday, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking his urgent intervention to hold bilateral talks with Odisha for an amicable resolution of the border disputes between the two states.

In the letter to the AP CM, Pradhan suggested measures such as withdrawal of cases, retreat of armed police forces, and putting on hold non-essential structural construction in the disputed areas, to create a conducive environment for talks.

scrollToTop