As the West Bengal Government reportedly removed a gate of the Odisha Forest department and erected its own, the State Government has sought a status report from Balasore administration.
Sources said there was a proposal for setting up a joint checkpost on the road from West Bengal Government. Government chief whip Prabhat Tripathy said the Assembly Committee will give its recommendation to the State Government after receiving the status report from the Revenue department.
While it was an old disputed issue between the two States, it cropped up recently when a team of police and administrative officials of West Bengal removed a checkgate erected by the Forest department for wildlife protection on Sahabajipur-Udaypur road and put up a police checkpost in its place. As the news spread, locals lodged their protest and met the BDO and other revenue officials. They also discussed the issue with Bhogarai MLA Ananta Das. After a series of discussions, the administration finally decided to visit the spot. The aggrieved locals, in the presence of officials and the MLA, removed their police checkpost.
As tension mounted over removal of the checkpost, a meeting was convened at Udaypur recently, which was attended by police and administrative officials from both the States and the MLA. While both the parties claimed possession of the road, it was decided to go for fresh demarcation.