BHUBANESWAR: Speaker of the Assembly Surama Padhy on Tuesday held the first meeting of the House Committee on border disputes between Odisha and neighbouring states.
It was decided that the committee will conduct a thorough inspection of all the areas to understand the issues involved, and find solutions.
The House panel meeting marks a significant step towards efforts being made by the state to resolve outstanding issues with the neighbouring states and find a lasting solution. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had also recently constituted a committee led by Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Kumar Pujari on Kotia cluster of villages.
Official sources said Odisha has border disputes with four neighbouring states - Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The main dispute is over the Kotia cluster of 21 villages under the Pottangi tehsil of Koraput district, which has been ongoing since 1968.
The dispute with West Bengal is over a 12-km stretch of Subarnarekha river, with contention points at Jaleswar in Balasore district and Dantun area of West Midnapore district. Both states are working to resolve the issue based on 35 ground control points (GCPs) in Odisha and 53 points in West Bengal, sources said.
There is dispute with Chhattisgarh over four villages in Nabarangpur district and one in Jharsuguda district. Similarly, the dispute with Jharkhand is over two villages in Mayurbhanj, five in Keonjhar and six in Sundargarh. In total, nine districts - Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Nuapada, Koraput, Ganjam, Gajapati, Nabarangpur and Jharsuguda have border disputes with the neighbouring states.