Defying prohibitory orders clamped by the Balasore administration in Bhogarai, the West Bengal government on Tuesday resumed unauthorised construction works at the disputed area on Udaypur beach once again.
What set the alarm bells ringing again was the sighting of WB authorities surveying the disputed area to resume the construction work of a boundary wall which was stopped earlier by the Odisha government on September 8. The locals who spotted the encroachers immediately informed the local authorities.
On being informed, the Tehsildar of Bhogarai reached the spot and stopped the unauthorised construction work at the disputed area where both the sides had earlier agreed to maintain status quo.
It is pertinent to mention here that the local administration in Balasore on September 8 had stopped the unauthorised construction of a boundary wall by the West Bengal government at the same area.
As per reports, Cyclone Yaas which ravaged Odisha and parts of West Bengal on May 25 this year had resulted in the collapse of a watch tower and boundary wall on the famous Udayapur Beach. However, tension erupted after the WB government started construction of the boundary wall which intruded almost 50 feet inside Odisha’s territory.
Earlier in February this year, a meeting of top officials of Odisha and West Bengal governments was held at West Medinipur to discuss modalities for resolving disputes arising out of several bordering villages near Jaleswar and Bhograi in Balasore district.