Koraput: Caught in a legal-battle spanning over five decades with bordering Andhra Pradesh over the ownership of 21 villages in Kotia panchayat in Pottangi block, the district administration celebrated the Utkal Divas perhaps for the first time at the panchayat headquarters on Sunday.

"As it's a special day for the state, it was decided to observe the event at Kotia to generate awareness among people about the rich cultural and historical heritage of the state. Also, observance of such events creates a sense of belongingness among the people," said Koraput collector K. Sudarshan Chakravarthy.

The observation created a great amount of curiosity among the tribal residents of Kotia as except a few villagers of the panchayat headquarters, no one has had any idea about the state's formation day. None of them had ever taken part in the celebration of this auspicious day either.

"What is Utkal Divas? We had no idea about it. We had never celebrated anything like it. Neither had anyone told us anything about it. However, today we came to the importance of the day," said Kotia resident Lachana Pangi on Sunday.

Odisha has been claiming these villages as its part. But Odia as a language has not been able to penetrate most parts of the disputed villages bordering Andhra Pradesh even after the government establishing as many as 22 schools, including a residential school. Not many in the area can read, write or even understand Odia. The villagers allege that though schools have been constructed, classes are not being taken regularly.

Kotia had hogged headlines recently after officials of Andhra Pradesh government launched their welfare programmes and distributed old-age pensions among few beneficiaries. The Andhra government is also constructing some roads in the disputed territories.

This had prompted the Odisha government to speed up development activities at Kotia of late. The Koraput administration has prepared an action plan involving more than Rs 100 crore to be spent in Kotia in next three years for the region's overall development.

Both the Odisha and Andhra government are entangled in a legal battle over the ownership of 21 out of the 28 villages of Kotia panchayat since 1968 and the Supreme Court in 2006 had ordered to maintain status quo.