Central forces' security for construction work of key bridges, roads in C'garh

New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) The Central forces deployed in Chhattisgarh will now provide special security to the construction works of strategic bridges and highways in hardcore Maoist areas, sources said.

The construction work has been affected due to attacks on the sites by the naxal cadres.

Earlier, protection was provided by the state police, but it has now been decided that the Central forces will provide the security cover.

"Road brings prosperity in the region, it also facilitates the easy and fast movements of the security forces for 'area domination'. That is why the strategic part of road constructions will now be started in mission mode," a senior official of the Home Ministry said.

The battalion's Central forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Border Security Force (BSF) will be providing security umbrella to at least 12 strategic roads allocated in Sukma, Dantewada and Bijapur.

Of 12, five fall in Sukma district, one in Dantewada, four in Bijapur while two roads are located on the border areas of Bijapur-Sukma border and Dantewada-Sukma.

A total of 479 km of strategic roads was approved for construction in 2010-11 but about 215 km stretch is still pending.

Of the 215 km, the 10 km stretch connecting Bheji to Chintagufa road is scheduled to be completed by June 2022, while the Golapalli-Paidagudem by March next year.

The entire work is scheduled to be completed by June 2023. On an average, the per km construction cost of a road in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas is about Rs 80 in Chhattisgarh which is covered under the Road Requirement Plan (RRP) scheme under the Union Home Ministry for LWE areas and implemented by the state.

The decision to complete these sections was taken during the annual naxal review meeting held here in New Delhi on September 26 which was chaired by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah with the Chief Ministers of eight Maoist-affected states of the country.

During the meeting, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bagel had requested to deploy additional Central security forces to get these works completed.

The decision came amid the decreasing the naxal footprints in majority of the LWE areas wherein the Central security forces have expanded their dominance.

A senior official in the security forces said that better connectivity is an advantage to the Force for further penetration deep into the so-called 'Red Corridor' in Chhattisgarh.