Indus Valley Times

By Swagatika Swain

Bhubaneswar, May 28:  The Eastern India Philatelic Association along with INTACH , Odisha Chapter, today released a  postal cover at the Kotia Branch Post  Office today. The Cover, bearing  the  Slogan that “Kotia Belongs to Odisha”   was stamped and cancelled at the Branch Post Office of Kotia  which falls under the  Pottangi Sub Post Office both of which are under the Koraput Postal  Division of the Odisha Postal Circle.  The Cover was released Anil Dhir and Dr. Biswajit Mohanty, philatelists in the presence of the former State Election Commissioner Sanjib Hota, who has also been the Collector of undivided Koraput earlier. Other officials of the Government of Odisha too were present on the occasion.

Speaking to the Press, Sanjib Hota said that Kotia has been and will remain as an integral part of Odisha and the territorial dispute should be solved as soon as possible. He said that while all administrative and revenue offices of Odisha have been in place at Kotia since the formation of the State,  the presence of the Post Office, which has been functioning foe decades  is another proof of Odisha’s claim.  

Biswajit Mohanty said that Andhra Pradesh and ulterior motives for claiming the region as there are rich bauxite deposits in all the hills of the Kotia Panchayat. He said that the government of Odisha, has in the recent years, developed infrastructure to a great extent in the Panchayat.  According to Mohanty, Kotia  today is among the best and well maintained Panchayats  of the State.   

Anil Dhir said that the effort of releasing the cover in this remote Post Office was to support Odisha’s claim. He said that nearly 300 covers were posted to stakeholders and persons who are involved in the dispute. Individual covers were dispatched to the Chief Ministers of both Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and the Prime Minister and President. Covers were also sent to the lawyers who are fighting the case in the Supreme Court. Each and every MP and MLA of both the states have been mailed the covers from the Post office at Kotiya, with the cancellation and postmark of the Kotiya Branch Post office with the Pin Code.  Dhir said that the sheer natural beauty of the Kotia region makes it one of the most beautiful  and pristine destination of the State. While hordes of tourists come  to the place from  Andhra Pradesh, it has still not become a popular place for Odias. There is excellent infrastructure in the region by way of Eco- tourism and the Govt. of Odisha is developing the Deomali  region  by constructing cottages. 

The Kotiya Post Office offers all postal services like delivery of mails and  parcels, money transfer, banking, insurance and retail services. Interestingly, there are three other Post Offices in the country one each in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which are named Kotia, hence the Odisha Branch Office is spelled as Kotiya with the assigned Pin Code being 764039.