India News | Oppn Charges Odisha Govt with Inept Handling of Inter-state Boundary Disputes
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The opposition BJP and Congress on Wednesday accused the BJD government of Odisha of inept handling of inter-state border disputes, while Revenue Minister Sudam Marandi said that such differences will be resolved through mutual understanding. The state has boundary disputes with neighbouring states such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
Bhubaneswar, Nov 25 (PTI) The opposition BJP and Congress on Wednesday accused the BJD government of Odisha of inept handling of inter-state border disputes, while Revenue Minister Sudam Marandi said that such differences will be resolved through mutual understanding. The state has boundary disputes with neighbouring states such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
The issue was raised in the Assembly during a discussion on the admissibility of an adjournment motion on inter-state boundary disputes. Initiating the debate, BJP Chief Whip Mohan Majhi said, "There are 21 villages in Koraput district and 16 villages in Gajapati district having border dispute with Andhra Pradesh. As there has been no development in the border areas, people are inclined towards the neighbouring state."
Majhi demanded immediate intervention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in order to save Odisha's boundary.
BJP deputy leader in the Assembly B C Sethi claimed that neighbouring states are indulging in illegal activities as the state government is not serious about the border disputes.
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Sethi claimed that the people in the border area are in a dilemma as there is "inaction" from the Odisha government side while they get lucrative offers from the neighbouring states.
Infiltrators have entered Balasore and Bhadrak districts taking advantage of the situation, he said and demanded constitution of an all-party committee to resolve the issue.
Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra accused the state government of remaining in "deep sleep and in coma" and therefore unable to make any effort to resolve the issue. He, however, walked out of the House for not being allowed sufficient time to elaborately speak on the issue.
Revenue Minister Sudam Marandi said that efforts were made by the Koraput district administration and the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (southern division) to resolve the issue.
"The collector of Visakhapatnam district (of Andhra Pradesh) said that the dispute will be resolved on the basis of the revenue map of both the states," he added.
On the border dispute with West Bengal, Marandi said that a meeting between senior revenue officials of the two states was held in Bhubaneswar on July 24 last year where it was decided that the demarcation of the boundary will be made in accordance with the guidelines of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
It was also decided that illegal sand quarry in the bordering villages in Balasore district will be stopped, he said.
This apart, the minister said that state has border disputes with West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Nuapada districts respectively.
He said the revenue officials of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are working on the dispute relating to some villages in Ganjam and Gajapati districts. A joint inspection was conducted and its the final report awaited, he said.
The minister, however, said that there was no such major border order dispute due to timely intervention by the Odisha government.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)