Author: RK Vij
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 6, 2009
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-slow-trudge-to-normalcy/498593/0
Introduction: The Gangalur-Bijapur road cutting
through Maoist territory is a major triumph for the administration
The gruesome incident of July 12 instant was
shattering. We lost a superintendent of police and 28 others, fighting to
their last breath in a Naxalite ambush on a black tar road near Maanpur of
Rajnandgaon district (Chhattisgarh) which is supposedly partially affected
by overt Maoist activities. A huge blast followed by indiscriminate firing
from automatic weapons engulfed innocent lives who not long ago had pledged
to save democracy, little knowing that the day of supreme sacrifice was not
far ahead. Whether the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) buried beneath a
'pucca' road was drilled down to its core only recently or was an old planted
ghost (before black tarring of road) remains a mystery to be solved, but how
secure the interior roads are can be fairly gauged from this incident. Bastar
region, which is nearly one third of the state, and almost equal to Kerala
and Haryana in size, is full of such nasty roads. Only a few dare to traverse
them. I have witnessed many upheavals during the two years of my stint in
Bastar, and I feel compelled to highlight the efforts and creativity of the
civil administration of Dantewada district (and now Bijapur) that led to the
construction of the reinforced cement concrete (RCC) road from Gangalur to
Bijapur.
This 23 km stretch of road, cutting across
the dense teak forest, is unique on many counts. It passes through a large
swathe of inaccessible 'liberated area' of Maoist influence, where it is claimed
that the state's writ does not run. Although paramilitary and state forces
are deployed at four locations on this small patch due to its strategic importance,
yet not a day passes without the occurrence of Naxal violence. So much so
that government officials fall sick in the name of their posting and bus operators
withdraw their fleet on pretext of unviable and uneconomical routes. Bidders,
despite quoting exorbitant rates for any developmental work retract at the
first opportunity to avoid Naxal wrath. The hearts of our doctors, who extend
their so-called social service only up to urban limits, do not melt even if
a poor tribal dies of cerebral malaria before reaching a nearby government
hospital. Indigenous homeopaths and baigas are the only saviours over there.
The Maoists' claim of running a parallel government and rendering relief to
a long-neglected class is mere farce. They have reduced these areas to a hapless
condition. Gangalur, a village of a few hundred tribals, now sprawls over
an area that includes a relief camp since the emergence of Salwa Judum in
June 2005. This village now has a RCC road up to Bijapur thanks to K.R. Pisda,
a former district collector who came up with the idea of making Gangalur-Bijapur
RCC road from non-conventional methods.
Raman Singh, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh,
laid the foundation stone of this RCC road on April 5, 2007. Funds up to Rs.
10 crore were brought in by the collector from NMDC (National Mineral Development
Corporation), a mighty enterprise with its headquarters at Bailadilla of Dantewada,
under the Peripheral Development Fund Scheme. This made it easy for him to
do away with long-drawn bureaucratic procedures. A committee of district officials
constituted to carry out this herculean task purchased an automated mixer
plant and other equipment. After an extensive hunt, experienced masons were
motivated to join the euphoria. A mixer plant was set up in the premises of
the CRPF camp at Cherpal, halfway between Bijapur and Gangalur. Everyone involved
in construction of the road was given an insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh. The
district superintendent of police, Ratan Lal Dangi, joined hands by providing
security on a regular basis.
However, the officials' commitment to this
road construction made the Naxalites furious. Hari Ram, a local guerilla squad
(LGS) leader of Gangalur, threatened security forces, special police officers
(SPOs) and their cohorts of dire consequences and rhetorically announced,
'I will commit suicide if I fail to stop construction'. Although, it couldn't
deter the administration from the project, it was not an easy path to tread.
Soon Naxalites burnt down a tractor involved in ferrying material. They also
partially damaged a freshly laid-up road and set the plant at Cherpal on fire.
Seven SPOs and three CRPF jawans lost their lives and many security men were
injured. Four Naxalites were also killed. So far, 43 cases of arson, murder,
kidnapping, exchange of fire, recovery and explosion of IEDs have been registered.
And the road is ultimately in its completion stage.
The people of Gangalur and intervening villages
to Bijapur are now a happy lot. Hari Ram, having failed to thwart the project,
has shifted to Abhujhmaad. The distance to the district headquarters has shortened.
The fear of landmine explosions haunts people less now, as the wire mesh embedded
in cement concrete can absorb more shock and stop splinters from taking lives.
The Gangalur-Bijapur road is not a mere mix
of cement and sand, but a blow to Maoist ideology, which has been rejected
by the people of this region. It stands for the 'success of innovation over
red-tapism', the victory of public courage and sacrifice over Naxalite cowardice;
and is indeed a befitting reply to the cycle of violence.
- The writer is a senior IPS officer from
Chhattisgarh
