BHUBANESWAR: The State government on Wednesday informed the Assembly that efforts are on to resolve border disputes with the neighbouring states through mutual understanding. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi told the State Assembly that the government is seized of the matter and there have been no major flare-ups in disputed areas due to timely intervention of the State administration.
Replying to an adjournment motion moved by the BJP on the contentious issue, the Minister said a fresh row erupted at Sambai village under Pottangi tehsil in Koraput district recently when some residents of of Dumburiguda panchayat of Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh blocked a road. The road blockade was removed and the Collector of Visakhapatnam district intimated that the dispute will be resolved on the basis of the revenue map of both the states, Marndi said.
He said the special development package prepared for the group of 21 Kotia villages is under implementation and the progress of works is being monitored by a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Member of Board of Revenue. The last review was done on Monday.On the border dispute with Andhra Pradesh on some villages in Ganjam and Gajapati districts, Marndi informed that revenue officials of both the states have conducted a joint inspection and the final report is awaited.
Referring to the border dispute with West Bengal over nine revenue villages in Balasore district, he said that a high-level meeting between the senior revenue officials of the two states was held in Bhubaneswar on July 24, 2019 where it was decided that the demarcation of the boundaries will be made in accordance with the guidelines of the National Green Tribunal and illegal sand mining will be stopped.
Marndi said that the State government has formed a survey team in which two scientists of the Odisha Remote Sensing Application Centre have been taken as members along with the officials of the West Bengal for demarcation of the villages along the Subarnarekha river. Odisha also has border disputes with Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Nuapada districts.
While BJP members Mohan Majhi and Bishnu Sethi demanded an all-party meeting to discuss border disputes with neighbouring states, Congress staged a walkout alleging that party leader Narasingha Mishra was not granted sufficient time to speak during the discussion.
STEPS TAKEN
Revenue officials of Andhra and Odisha conducted a joint inspection and the final report on dispute over land in some villages under Ganjam and Gajapati dists is awaited
Meeting of revenue officials of Odisha and West Bengal was held in Bhubaneswar on July 24, 2019 and it was decided that demarcation of the disputed boundaries will be done in accordance with the NGT guidelines
Illegal sand mining from Subarnarekha river will be stopped