There seems to be no end in sight to the border dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the disputed Kotia region in Koraput district. The neighbouring state has time and again made encroachment bids in different ways and Odisha has been foiling those attempts.
Another such incident has recently cropped up. Continuing the alleged intrusion attempt, Andhra tried to encroach upon a Biju pucca house constructed by Odisha government at Uparasembi village under disputed Kotia panchayat. Andhra officials had opened a post office in that building and tried to include that village in their state.
However, upon being informed, Pottangi Tehsildar, Kotia Revenue Inspector and Kotia police station OIC reached the spot and made an investigation into the incident. Following the investigation, they removed the nameplate of the post office set up by Andhra officials. They also removed the red colour of the house and painted it white.
Earlier some months back, philatelists Anil Dhir and Dr Biswajit Mohanty in presence of former Collector of undivided Koraput Sanjib Hota and other officials of Odisha government had released a postal cover bearing the slogan ‘Kotia Belongs to Odisha’ at Kotia post office. Hundreds of postal envelopes carrying the stamps of Kotia post office were dispatched to various parts of the country.
As Kotia’s pin code-764039 is under Odisha Postal Division, Centre has given its approval that Kotia is under Odisha.
Notably, 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 Supreme 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.