CUTTACK: A PIL was filed by a Berhampur-based social organisation in the Orissa High Court on Wednesday seeking its direction to the State government to prevent the Andhra Pradesh government from holding panchayat elections in three disputed Kotia villages under Koraput district on February 13.
The organisation claimed that the villages - Talaganjeipadar, Patusinri and Phagunseneri - of Kotia panchayat under Potangi block have been designated as separate panchayats by Andhra Pradesh where election has been declared.
While Dibakar Gemel has been declared as Sarpanch of Talaganjeipadar, Betru Haraka is the Sarpanch of Fagunasineri. The Andhra Pradesh government has published the voter list of 1,025 voters in the Phatusineri village, the petition read.
Parishad president Surendra Panigrahi in the petition has alleged that inaction of the Odisha government officials had paved the way for preparation of voters list and declaration of election in the area by the Andhra Pradesh government.
"The Odisha government officials have been completely callous about the activities by their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh. Unless they are directed to take strict measures to safeguard the border, the areas will gradually be merged with Andhra Pradesh," Panigrahi contended.
He also alleged similar situation in several villages of Ganjam and Gajapati districts. The Principal Secretaries of Home and Revenue & Disaster Management departments, Collectors of Koraput, Gajapati and Ganjam have been named as respondents in the petition.