The border dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh took an ugly turn on Thursday after a minister from the neighbouring state threatened to blow up an Aanganwadi centre in a village in the Gajapati district of Odisha.
The Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries in the Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet, Seediri Appalaraju, said he will blast the Anganwadi Centre in Manikpatna village under Rayagad block of Gajapati if the Odisha government shut down a similar centre put up by AP government.
Incidentally, the said village is well under Odisha's territory which Andhra has long been trying to grab, it is alleged.
The Minister's threat came at a public meeting which he had arranged during a visit to Manikpatna village on Thursday.
As per reports, he forcefully opened the anganwadi centre, set up by the AP government in the same village which the district administration of Gajapati had shut down a week ago.
Speaking to reporters, Appalaraju said at first, the Odisha government officials should be detained by the police for shutting down AP's anganwadi centre in the village before sitting across table for a dialogue.
However, the Additional Collector of Gajapati, Sangram Sekhar Panda who termed the attitude of the Andhra Minister “little aggressive,” said that he will inform about the threats of the AP minister to his superior officials and will act accordingly.
“We have conveyed them (AP) that the inter-state border disputes should be resolved through the SOP and any unilateral action will not be tolerated,” Panda said.
The story of AP’s intrusion does not end here. In fact, the Kotia Panchayat in Odisha’s Koraput district saw another such instance on Thursday when the Food Supplies Officer of Andhra government conducted a public grievance redressal camp at Phatu Sineri, Faguna Sineri, Ganjei Padara and Dhuli Padara villages under the Panchayat.
Similarly, the West Bengal has been eyeing the real estates of Odisha from the north as well. As per reports, the local administration in Balasore on Wednesday stopped an unauthorised construction of boundary wall by the West Bengal government at Udayapur beach under Bhogorai block in the district.
It is pertinent to mention here that West Bengal has been eyeing the scenic Udaypur beach since long.
Earlier in February this year, a meeting of top officials of Odisha and West Bengal governments had been organised at West Medinipur to discuss modalities for resolving disputes involving several bordering villages near Jaleswar and Bhograi in Balasore district.