Paralakhemundi: The long-standing dispute between two border villages – Champapur in Odisha and Singipur in Andhra Pradesh – has escalated further with the people from Andhra Pradesh side again allegedly entering into Odisha and resorting to hooliganism.
Sunday, acting on the direction of Gajapati district collector, a team comprising of Garabandha police station IIC Sushant Kumar Sahu, Rayagada block development officer Lukash Pradhan, Rayagada block chairman Dhaneswar Bhuyan, panchayat extension officer Bhashkar Chandra Patra reached the spot, took stock of the situation and then put up red flags, claiming Odisha’s right on the patch of land.
The bone of the contention is the patch of land which is, even though very much in Champapur village, being claimed by people of Andhra Pradesh as theirs.
Champapur of Gangabada panchayat under Rayagada block in Gajapati district is a thickly tribal populated village. Its nearby village on the other side of the border is Singipur of Manjusa Mandalam under Shreekakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.
The inhabitants of Champapur have been earning their livelihood from cultivation. For ages, they have been cultivating plantain, cashew nut, mango, turmeric etc. in the hilly areas and at the foothill.
It was September 13 when some non-tribal people of Andhra Pradesh side had entered into Champapur and cut down trees rampantly, claiming the area as of Andhra Pradesh. They even attacked some women folks when they tried to resist them.
However, Champapur villagers seek an amicable solution to this dispute. Former sarpanch Haribandhu Karji said that the border should be finalized with the presence of the villagers from both the sides.
Villagers from both sides have many a time confronted each other over land and trees. “A kind of tension is always there on our side. We the villagers have been coming face to face on many occasions. Yet the administration is trying to find out a solution. It seems the administration is least concerned about our problems. We urged the administration to come with a solution to end the dispute for good,” the irked villagers alleged.
PNN