Bhubaneswar, Apr 22 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday ordered the setting up of a committee to study the prevailing ground situation in Koraput district’s Kotia gram panchayat over which the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh also makes its claim.

The decision to form a panel was taken during a review meeting presided over by the chief minister, an official said.

“The CM has issued the direction after the meeting on the situation in the Kotia cluster of villages over which Andhra Pradesh also makes its claims,” he said.

An official release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office said that the committee will be chaired by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari and will submit a report to the chief minister after reviewing the current situation there.

The review meeting was also attended by Pujari, Works and Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, and several other officials.

Odisha’s Minister for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development Nityananda Gond joined the meeting virtually from Nabarangpur, the release said.

The dispute with Andhra Pradesh over Kotia panchayat has continued since 1968.

Though the Supreme Court in 2006 directed both states to maintain the status quo, tensions over governance and development interventions persist in the region. PTI AAM BDC