Even though the Gurupriya bridge was inaugurated nearly two months ago in the cutoff region in the district, the Maoists’ opposition to it continues.
The CPI(Maoist)’s Malkangiri-Koraput-Visakhapatnam Border Division on Wednesday issued a letter to the media terming the bridge as ‘anti-development’. The Red rebels in the letter stated that the bridge is not meant for development of the area, rather it is meant for destruction of tribals.
The State Government has constructed the bridge to loot the natural resources like bauxite from the area, the ultras alleged in the letter.
Maoists further alleged, to generate surplus electricity from the Balimela reservoir, the Energy Department authorities have decided to store more than the required quantity of water in the dam. As a result, acres of land of seven pachayats in the area have been waterlogged and thousands of farmers have suffered crop loss.
In the letter, the Red rebels demanded adequate compensation for those farmers whose crops have been damaged following the rise in the water level.