Bhubaneswar, March 26 -- Koraput: In an unexpected turn of events at Odisha-Andhra border in Koraput, residents of at least 14 villages under Salur block of Andhra Pradesh have expressed their desire to merge with Odisha.

Amid Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border dispute involving Kotia Gram Panchayat in Koraput where Andhra Pradesh has been claiming its rights on four of the bordering villages, still languishing in the Supreme Court, news of Andhra villagers wishing to merge with Odisha has come as a surprise for many.

Two contrasting pictures; one of AP's Kodama Panchayat where locals have to use make-shift stretchers to carry patients to hospital without an all weather road and the other one of smooth pitch-black roads in Talagumandi Panchay...