Koraput: Since Andhra Pradesh forcibly held panchayat elections in some villages of the Kotia panchayat in Koraput district, the Odisha government has been expediting various projects and welfare measures in the fringe region, a report said.
Officials have been routinely paying visits to these villages and other localities to review progress of the projects.
The Odisha government has taken up a host of projects to push income-generation and livelihood of the people.
A delegation from the Soil Conservation and Watershed department led by director Hemanta Kumar Panda visited Sunday villages under the Kotia panchayat.
The watershed mission is trying to enhance the livelihood of people in Panjeipadar, Taupadar and Janiguda villages. It has dug up several ponds in the area and provided 1,200 Kadaknath fowls to farmers.
Panda interacted with many beneficiaries about effectiveness of the income-generating schemes. Famers told him they are benefitting from poultry supported by the government.
The officials also visited an under-construction banana pond at Janiguda. They also inspected various plantations and fish farming on the land of a woman beneficiary.
Notably, there are about 21 villages in the Kotia group. People of these villages are being lured by the Andhra Pradesh government through sops. It is being done, so that the Andhra government can claim the villages to be in their state.
A case is pending in the Supreme Court over the dispute even though it is in the jurisdiction of Koraput district.
PNN
