AP, Odisha Chief Secretaries discuss inter-state issues

Vijayawada: The Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, Sameer Sharma and Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, held a meeting via video-conference on Monday to discuss the way forward in resolving outstanding issues between the two states.

The meeting was a follow-up to the meeting of the Chief Ministers of the two neighbouring states on November 9 last year, wherein it was decided to set up an institutional mechanism to deliberate on outstanding issues and find a solution in the "best interest of the people of Odisha and AP". The two States subsequently constituted committees with top officials to look into the pending inter-State issues and find ways for resolving them.

Official sources here said the two Chief Secretaries discussed the Neradi Barrage issue and Kotia group of villages among others. The two senior officials agreed to maintain status quo on the disputed Kotia villages bordering the two states as a case was pending in the Supreme Court. The Vamsadhara Water Disputes Tribunal ruled in favour of Andhra Pradesh in June last year, permitting it to go ahead with the construction of Neradi barrage.

The project is expected to leave over 106 acres of land in Rayagada and Gajapati districts in Odisha submerged. It may also cause some water scarcity in those districts. The Andhra Pradesh government has agreed to pay compensation for the submerged land and also rehabilitate the displaced persons. The two States have now decided to take further steps based on the recommendations of the technical committee.

The Chief Secretaries, official sources said, decided to conduct another meeting soon to deliberate on the progress made.