Change of govts in Odisha, AP raises hopes for end to disputes

Vizianagaram : After formation of BJP government in Odisha, people and leaders of Parvathipuram Manyam district are hoping that long-pending disputes with the neighbouring state will be solved.

Andhra Pradesh has two major issues with Odisha. One is a dispute on Kotia villages and the other is Jhanjavathi reservoir project, which have to be resolved with bilateral discussions.

Jhanjavathi project is located on border between erstwhile Vizianagaram and Koraput district. The project is intended to supply water to 24,640 acre benefitting 75 villages in Komarada, Parvatipuram, Garugubilli, Seethanagaram and Makkuva mandals.

But the Odisha has been objecting the project on the grounds that it was losing some villages in project’s submergence area. It is not willing to lose the villages and is demanding the AP government to reduce the height of the project to save those villages. This dispute has been pending for the last 50 years despite several meetings by chief ministers of two states, including the one YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Navin Patnaik in 2021. Another vexatious issue between the two states is Kotia villages. Around 22 villages, including Ganjayibhadra and Kotia were ignored by the Union government during bifurcation of Andhra and Odisha states in early 1950s and since then the villages have become a bone of contention.

Both states are fighting for legal rights on this area. This is a remote hill top area where the 22 villages are surrounded by thick forests in the eastern ghats. Both states are providing the facilities like Anganwadi centres, MNREGS job cards and ration cards too to the residents. The people in the villages are interested in merger with AP rather than Odisha but the officials are restricting the AP officials from entering into the area. Change of government in Odisha raised hopes that this 70-year-old dispute will be resolved. The optimism has a basis in the fact that BJP, which formed the government in Odisha, is also part of NDA in Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking on this issue Dwarapureddy Srinivasa Rao, district BJP president of Parvathipuram Manyam, said, “Formation of NDA governments in AP, Odisha is a good sign for the people of this area. We will speak to the leaders and BJP state wing of Odisha and put in all efforts to resolve those issues. Now we have a route to meet the Odisha government and explain about both the long-pending issues. We will coordinate with our party high command and definitely address these issues.”