KORAPUT: Fresh tension has erupted in the Kotia region under Pottangi block of Koraput district after officials from Andhra Pradesh reportedly initiated census operations in some bordering villages even though Odisha has already completed household survey in the area.
Sources said the incident occurred on Thursday when a four-member census team from Salur Mandal of Manyam district in Andhra Pradesh visited the Uparasembi and Phatusineri villages and conducted survey at around 16 houses in the two areas.
If the sources are to be believed, the Andhra Pradesh officials are reportedly planning to extend the exercise to villages including Fagunasineri, Madakar, Dhulipadar, Neredibalsa, Harmandi and Tala Ganjeipadar in the coming days.
The Koraput district administration swung into action after coming to know of the matter. Additional district magistrate Tapan Kumar Nayak said the Odisha government has already completed census activities in Kotia cluster well in advance.
He, however, acknowledged that census officials from AP had entered Phatusineri village and initiated the operations. “The census team in Odisha is closely monitoring the situation,” Nayak said.
On Friday, officials including Pottangi tehsildar, additional tehsildar, block and tehsil staff, along with census supervisors, visited the bordering villages to assess the ground situation. Though the census team from AP did not visit the area on Friday, officials from Odisha said they have appealed the villagers not to cooperate with them if in case they arrived for the survey.
Meanwhile, sources in the neighbouring state said that the census officials from AP have completed household enumeration in several other villages on Thursday and plan to cover the remaining villages sometime around next week.
The incident has once again brought to fore the long-standing territorial dispute in Kotia back in focus. As per reports, Andhra Pradesh has included 21 disputed villages under three gram panchayats in its administrative records. It had earlier also issued Aadhaar cards and other official documents to the residents there. Village names and residents’ details have allegedly been changed in the official records in the neighbouring state.
Nearly two weeks ago, some villagers of the Kotia region had allegedly opposed the census activities being undertaken by the officials of Odisha. Pottangi police then arrested two persons in this connection.
