A 22 kilometre stretch of forest road between Labher and Karamdeeh under Palamu Tiger Reserve puts Latehar administrative officials and PTR officials on two sides of it!
This road is of vital importance for both the civil and police administration and the PTR.
The road is used by Maoists and wild life both. This road has a history of tigers crossing it in the past too. It sees pug marks of leopards, hyena and other carnivores. Maoists used to traverse through this road in the past too. Sources said with the forward security post at Karamdeeh passage of Maoists is curbed and contained.
However Latehar administration wants this 22 Km stretch of road to be a high motorable one for understandable reasons like movement of security forces, civil supplies and also to give a fillip to developmental works there at Karamdeeh which languishes for want of development because of Maoists infestation here etc.
But here comes PTR as this stretch is right inside the tiger reserve and hence there is a long drawn process for obtaining clearance for constructing this road from not only the ministry of environment, forest & climate change but first from National Board For Wild Life as well.
Prashant Anand SP Latehar giving his version on this road said “ This is a strategic value road. There are many undulations here on this stretch. Nullahs come on this stretch. It needs to be well constructed either black top or a pcc one. There are ambush zones here too. A motorable status of it will come as a big relief.” He said “ As told by civil officials of Latehar there is a good patch of GM ( gair majrua) land too in this 22 Km stretch of road and GM land is out of the purview of the forest land of PTR.”
He said “ We will appreciate if 30% of this road which comes to little over 7 Kms is made motorable. It will suffice then. This stretch is vulnerable. A 30% construction will make this road near all season road.”