Roadmap for erstwhile Maoist stronghold envisages education hubs, eco-tourism

CHhattisgarh chief government government minister Vishnu Deo Sai met undercoat Minister Narendra Modi on tues and presented a roadmap, envisaging training hubs, a medical college, irrigation projects, adventure and eco-tourism, including canopy walks and a glass bridge in the jungles, for the erstwhile Maoist stronghold of Bastar, people aware of the matter said.The Modi-Sai meeting came days after Union home minister Amit Shah told Parliament that the March 31 deadline for ending Left-wing extremism across the country had been met. Shah said 4,839 Maoists surrendered, 706 were killed, and 2,218 were arrested and jailed over the three years of heightened anti-Maoist operations.For decades, Bastar, Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, and Kanker districts were known as the epicentre of the Maoist insurgency in Chhattisgarh.Officials aware of the details in Sai’s roadmap said it refers to the government’s plans to establish two major education hubs in Jagargunda (Sukma) and Geedam (Dantewada district), the scenes of major Maoist attacks.In April 2021, 21 security personnel were killed in an ambush in Sukma district’s Jagargunda. Ten District Reserve Guard personnel were killed in a blast at Geedam two years later. Maoist commander Mandvi Hidma, who was killed in November 2015, was from Puvarti village in Sukma.Puvarti was once the hub of Maoism in the Bastar region. Outsiders were not allowed to enter the village for 24 years before security forces established a camp there in 2024. Many big ambushes on security personnel were planned in Puvarti.An official said Sai’s roadmap proposes a medical college in Geedam as the government is filling the long-standing gaps in health infrastructure. “Maoists prevented the construction of colleges or hospitals in these areas,” said the official.The roadmap highlights plans to build two barrages on the Indravati River, which cuts across Bastar and its surrounding areas, once regarded as the core of the so-called “Red Corridor”. Such projects were previously seen as unfeasible. “For years, Maoists exploited the river as a natural barrier, especially during the monsoon, when movement of security forces was difficult. Many major encounters [with Maoists] took place in and around the Indravati National Park along this stretch,” the official said.The roadmap referred to plans for adventure tourism, canopy walks, and a glass bridge in the jungles to attract visitors to Bastar. “The Prime Minister was briefed about the employment opportunities and the scope of eco-tourism in Bastar now that there are no Maoists and it is safe for visitors,” the official said.The government plans to open the interiors of Bastar for ecotourism once the area is demined. Inspector-general (Bastar) Sundarraj Pattilingam last week said security forces were involved in demining.