Koraput/Gajapati: A four-member team of officials from the Odisha government will visit Kotia panchayat under Pottangi block in Koraput district on February 8 to take stock of the ongoing alleged illegal activities being carried out by the Andhra Pradesh government in the area.
The visit gains importance after the working committee member of Telugu Desham Party (TDP) Rajesh Putra, today stirred a hornet’s nest by saying that Odisha and Andhra have equal shares when it comes to possession of Kotia panchayat during an all party meet.
As per sources, the high-level team comprising of IG (Police) Sanjeev Panda, two officials of Revenue Department Ashok Nayak and Sasadhar Nayak and engineer of Rural Development Department Asutosh Mallick will later visit Kotia panchayat on February 9.
The team, accompanied by the district collector and other local officers, will visit several villages in the panchayat and submit its report to the government, informed Revenue and Disaster Management Ministry sources.
Earlier today, in an attempt to settle the dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh government over possession of Kotia panchayat, an all party meeting was organised to look into the matter and take stock of the situation.
Reportedly, people from as many as 25 villages gathered to share their problems and demanded immediate intervention of Odisha government to resolve the issues. This apart, people demanded that the government should form a special team to look into the contentious matters.
Former district collector Gadadhar Parida, Pottangi MLA Prafulla Pangi, former MP Jayaram Pangi, former Congress MLA Ramchanda Kadam and members of various other organisations were present at the all party meeting.
The state government meanwhile alleged that the neighbouring state is trying to woo the villagers of the gram panchayat by distributing blankets, solar lights and ration cards despite strong opposition.
However, the TDP working committee member’s claim at the meeting today that Andhra has equal share in of Kotia panchayat as much as Odisha has not gone down well with the leaders and villagers present there.