From Maoist heartland to bridges of hope: Chhattisgarh’s Abujhmad reconnects with the outside world

JUst 300 metres from Kutul hamlet, which was formerly known as the working capital of Maoists in Abujhmad, a little well out flows quietly through dense sal forests. In summer and winter, people walk across it in a few steps. But once the monsoon arrives, the stream swells into a fast flowing river, cutting off villages on both sides for weeks.On one side of the stream, workers are laying the foundation and mapping for a permanent concrete bridge. Just a few metres away, villagers along with security forces, have already built a temporary wooden bridge built with sal logs, bamboo and concrete supports. Besides Kutul, the scene is unfolding across Abujhmad, where villagers and security forces have together built 53 temporary wooden and bamboo bridges ahead of the monsoon.Spread over nearly 4,000 sq km across Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada districts, Abujhmad is one of the largest unsurveyed forest regions. Around 60,000 tribals live in about 233 villages scattered across its hills and forests. The revenue survey of the forest is underway for the first time since independence.“Ahead of monsoon, villagers have joined hands with personnel from the district police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and district police to build 53 temporary wooden and bamboo bridges across streams,” said a sub-divisional officer of public works department, who was present near one of these bridges, asking not to be named.The officer further said that these bridges will remain in use until permanent concrete bridges, some of which have already been sanctioned by the government, are completed over the next year. Official records say that the temporary bridges have been built along several important routes, including the Kutul-Kodnar stretch on the Narayanpur-Madeda axis, the Kudmel-Kumanar route, the Orcha-Lanka axis, the Kutul-Gobe corridor and the Garpa-Kakur-Balebeda route. Officials said permanent bridges have already been approved across most of these streams. The construction has begun but will take nearly a year. These temporary bridges have been built to ensure that villages remain connected during this monsoon.For Ramu Ram Wadde, a resident of Gawandi village panchayat, the bridges represent a major change. “Earlier there were no temporary bridges and villagers crossed streams on foot, and during the rainy season they swam. Maoists never allowed roads or bridges to be built because poor connectivity helped them and made it difficult for security forces to move inside the forests,” he said.Officials say the exercise is doing more than improving connectivity.The bridges are being built under the Narayanpur Police’s “Maad Maitri Abhiyan”, which aims to strengthen ties between security forces and tribal communities.“...The initiative has not only secured crucial lifelines for essential supplies and medical emergencies but has also strengthened trust between security forces and tribal communities,” Narayanpur superintendent of police Robinson Ghuria said.The initiative is also important because this will be the first full monsoon for many of the security camps set up deep inside Abujhmad after recent anti-Maoist operations.“The bridges will help both villagers and security personnel move through the region during the rainy season,” said the SP.Standing near one such bridge in Kudmel village, Vivek Potai said he hopes the new crossings will save lives. “There were many unreported deaths in Abujhmad during the monsoon because villages remained cut off and help could not reach in time. We hope nothing like that will happen this year,” Potai said.For decades, the streams of Abujhmad symbolised isolation. Every monsoon, they cut off villages from hospitals, schools, markets and government services. Today, those same streams are being crossed on bridges built jointly by villagers and security forces.The 53 wooden bridges may not last for years, but they have already begun changing the relationship between the state and one of India’s most remote tribal regions.