At a time when the dispute between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh over Kotia panchayat in Koraput district is far from getting resolved, a visit of more than 50 officials of the neighbouring State to the Deomali area in the district on Sunday has given rise to speculation regarding emergence of a similar issue over the tourist spot.
As many as 57 officials of Andhra Pradesh, including Vizianagaram Collector Surya Kumari, arrived in Deomali in 22 cars on the pretext of a picnic. They were accompanied by several policemen of their State.
On being informed about the development, Odisha Police officials started keeping a sharp watch on the activities of the visitors.
Soon, mediapersons reached the spot for reporting but were stopped from doing so by the Andhra policemen.
Later, several officials of the Koraput district administration also reached the spot and their presence prevented a possible escalation of the untoward incident.
After picnicking at Deomali for around four hours, the AP officials also visited the Galigabadar waterfall and spent two hours there before returning via the Pottangi-Sunki road.
The unexpected visit of such a large number of Andhra officials to Deomali has raised the eyebrows of many. More surprisingly, they didn’t inform the Koraput district administration before their visit.
Till last reports came in, the district administration was yet to comment on the matter.