Bhubaneswar: Even though the border dispute in Kotia of Koraput district is largely seen as a product of administrative negligence, the Odisha government does not seem to have learnt from its mistakes.
The State government is yet to reach out to the bordering villages and address issues of the locals prompting Andhra Pradesh to take more villages under its administrative control.
According to sources, after Koraput and Gajapati, Andhra is now trying to take some bordering villages of Rayagada district under its administrative control.The neighbouring state is allegedly trying to lure the residents of Palamtulsi village of Rayagada through various means.
Though summer is yet to come, the residents of Palamtulsi have already started reeling under acute shortage of drinking water. Carrying pots on their heads, the women of the village are forced to walk miles to fetch water. Not only drinking water, the residents are reportedly deprived of road communication, education, health, tele-communication and other basic amenities.
“There is scarcity of drinking water in our village. During rainy season, we drink rain water by trekking more than one kilometre. We do not have access to safe drinking water,” said Rani Kalaka, a woman of Palamtulsi.
Unlike Palamtulsi residents, those living on Andhra side are way ahead. They have better amenities and avail government benefits like ration, pension much more than the residents of Odisha villages.
The huge disparities in the government benefits have reportedly lead many villagers to move to other side of border and adopt Andhra citizenship.
“Residents in border area of Odisha do not get basic facilities from the government. The administration turns blind eyes on the problems of the residents. Therefore, I moved to Andhra Pradesh to get better facilities,” said Siri Puala who is now settled in Andhra side of the border.
Taking advantage of the administrative apathy in the bordering villages of Odisha, the Andhra government has reportedly started constructing road and bridges in the border areas to attract the residents.
The Andhra government put up poles in order to construct road at Palamtulsi village connecting it with two of its villages- Kitilang and Jiranga.
However, the move faced stiff resistance from residents of Palamtulsi. While they vowed not to let Andhra enter the Odisha territory, the State government seems least bothered and has not reached out to address various issues of the residents.
Raju Pual of Palamtulsi village said, “The officials of Andhra government had demarcated the area and erected poles for road construction. However, we have decided not to let Andhra enter our territory and removed the poles.”
Speaking on the issue, Rayagada sub-collector Pratap Chandra Pradhan said, “We have advised the villagers not to panic. We are vigilant on the issue and if the villagers inform us about such activities, we will take action immediately and stop such works.”
(Edited By Pradeep Singh)