Kotia border row: Andhra officials hold meeting at Neridibalsa, distribute kits

Continuing the alleged intrusion attempt, the officials of the Andhra Pradesh Government reportedly distributed kits among the local people of the disputed Kotia Panchayat in Koraput’s Potangi block on Thursday.

As per reports, the neighbouring state resumed the intrusion into the disputed land after a brief lull. Throwing the constitutional and legal provisions to the wind, Andhra officials conducted a government programme at Neridibalsa under Kotia Panchayat.

In the meeting, Andhra officials emphasised on how to include the deprived people of the area in the ‘Jagananna Suraksha Scheme’ of the Andhra Pradesh government again.

Villagers of Ganjeipadar, Kotia, Sembi, Dhuli Padar attended the meeting. Many public representatives of Andhra Pradesh including Salur BDO Rama Devi took part in the meeting. They tried to convince the people to take advantage of the scheme and distributed kits among them.

However, no reactions from Koraput district administration could be obtained in this regard.

Notably, the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have been locked in a bitter battle over territorial control of 21 of the 28 revenue villages in Kotia Gram Panchayat.

Though the apex court has passed an order directing that the status quo to be maintained between the parties, Andhra has been continuously entering the border areas and trying to woo the local people.