Andhra CM YS Jagan to sort out issues of border villages, river projects with Odisha CM

Amaravati, Nov 8:  Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will meet his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday to discuss issues related to the construction of Neradi barrage over the Vamsadhara River, the Kotia cluster of border villages, and the Janjhavathi project.

On Monday, Reddy held a preparatory meeting here to finalise the agenda for discussion with Patnaik.

State government officials said that Reddy will elaborate upon the mutual benefits that will accrue due to the construction of the Neradi barrage. A total of 103 acres of land is required from Odisha for the construction of the barrage, of which 67 acres is riverbed area. The barrage will provide immediate irrigation facilities to 5,000-6,000 acres of land in Odisha.

Appraising Reddy on the Janjhavathi project, the officials said that the water for cultivation is being provided only to 5,000 acres of 24,640 acres of land through the rubber dam and completion of the project would benefit the farmers even more.

They said completion of the project would leave four villages completely and six villages partially flooded. Around 1,174 acres of land in Odisha will be inundated due to the project, of which 875 acres are government land.

In Bhubaneswar, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister will request Patnaik to co-operate with the resettlement and rehabilitation efforts, a state government release noted.

Briefing the Chief Minister on the recent developments in Kotia cluster of villages on the border, Vizianagaram district collector Suryakumari said that 16 out of 21 villages have decided to be with Andhra Pradesh, adding that elections were also held in those villages. They said 87 per cent people in Kotia cluster of villages are tribal and there should be no hindrances in providing services to them.