Rail Vikas Nigam ltd deserves full credit for undertaking the task of developing a railway line in the Maoist-infested Bastar region
How do you enter a lion's cage without getting mauledIJ Taking a cue from the lion's handler, one tries to gain confidence as the one who feeds him, hoping that the lion will not attack. However, things become complicated when the beast is not caged, but out in the open. The lion becomes the master of all it surveys.
Thus, when asked to enter Maoist territory to lay a 95km-long single railway line from Dalli Rajhara to Raoghat, to evacuate precious iron ore and build a 300-bed boys hostel for the tribal students of the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narainpur, deep in the Jagdalpur forest, it was Rail Vikas Nigam ltd that undertook this difficult task. Costing about Rs4.25 crore, this was a corporate social responsibility initiative — a bold statement of goodwill, which has since then repaid itself many times. Resultantly, RVNl personnel are allowed to move freely in mission jeeps and other vehicles that are unmolested by Maoist cadres.
The Red Corridor, with a roughly 100-km wide north-south belt in the eastern part of India, covering parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, has over the years experienced considerable Maoist insurgency. Even paramilitary forces are cautious while venturing into this region and have suffered casualties during a surprise ambush. In a major incident three years ago, a convoy of Congress leaders was attacked in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, resulting in 27 deaths which wiped out almost the entire State leadership.
While the local gram panchayats were won over with constructing new water bodies, deepening existing ponds, developing agricultural land, repair of village road etc, the contractors went about borrowing soil for construction of track bed and were also encouraged to engage locals, in particular the members of the project-affected families.
Economically under-developed, due to the lack of roads and railways, this region has a non-diversified economy that is solely dependent on agriculture and collecting forest produce. It is often supplemented with mining but this is unable to support the rapid increase in population. However, this region has significant natural resources which includes minerals, forestry and a potential to generate hydroelectricity. Odisha, the richest amongst these eight affected States, has 92 per cent of India's nickel, 60 per cent of bauxite, 28 per cent each of iron and manganese ores and 25 per cent of coal reserves.
The 95-km line from Dalli Rajhara to Raoghat and to Jagdalpur which is another 140km away will ultimately link Bailadila along with Rowghat iron ore mines to Raipur and the steel plant in Bhilai. It will also provide a significant impetus to the development of Bastar division which is the largest and one of the most backward divisions of Chhattisgarh. With a respectable 9.46 per cent rate of return, 3.05 million tonnes of iron ore will be transported per annum which is expected to go upto eight million tonnes from the 11th year of its commissioning.
As part of the agreement amongst various stake holders, unencumbered land was to be made available by the forest department. Though clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for diversion of 33km of reserve and 10km of revenue forest land was obtained in 2010 and 2014 respectively, only 60km of the land has been made available so far. Due to security reasons, only day light working is allowed and at the end of each day heavy machinery is shifted to the nearby contractor's camp which results in a loss of about three to four working hours. Project-affected persons also often hold up work, demanding jobs with Indian Railways and the Steel Authority of India.
The first 17km-long block section from Dalli Rajhara to Gudum was opened for passenger service in February this year, and two more 25km-long sections from Gudum to Bhanupratappur and Bhanupratappur to Keoti will open in September 2017. Keoti- Antagarh and Antagarh-Taroki, each 34km long, where forest is yet to be cleared, are targeted for commissioning by December 2019. Despite a plethora of problems, an overall progress of about 30 per cent has at last given a ray of hope for speedy development in one of the most neglected areas of this country.
(The writer is a former Member, Railway Board)
