A total of 44 new mobile communication towers installed by BSNl have started functioning in Bastar region, informed State Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand. By the end of July, a total of 61 new mobile towers would also start functioning, he stated in a video conference of lWE infested states chaired by Union Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Sinha here.
The Chief Secretary during the video conference demanded an air strip, super speciality hospital, banking services and increasing the transmission capacity of All India Radio and Doodarshan in Bastar region. Dhand stressed on the need for an additional 121 mobile communication towers in Bastar region. He also informed in the video conference that the work of all the 75 fortified police stations approved by the Central government in Bastar is targeted to be completed by October this year.
The Centre released a total sum of Rs 75.20 crores between 2010 to 2013 for a scheme for strengthening and strengthening fortification of police stations in the left Wing Extremism (lWE) pockets of Chhattisagrh as per the statistics available with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Nationally, under the scheme, a total of 400 police stations and outposts are to be constructed in the 10 lWE affected states at the rate of Rs 2 crore per police station, it stated.
Eighty per cent of the cost of the project is being met by the Centre while 20 per cent is being met by the concerned State government. During the period, Odhisha received sum of Rs 112 crores under the scheme while Jharkhand received Rs 97.50 crores. As many as 259 battalions of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are currently deployed in Chhattisgarh’s left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected regions.
The deployment in other states is as follows- Andhra Pradesh ( 16), Telangana ( 12), Bihar (57), Chhattisagrh ( 259), Jharkhand ( 144), Madhya Pradesh ( 8), Maharashtra (34), Odisha ( 102), Uttar Pradesh ( 6), West Bengal (53). Presently, a total of 691 battalions of CAPFs are deployed across the country in lWE areas.
Deployment of CAPFs is a dynamic process and keeps on changing from time to time depending upon the requirements projected by the State as well as demands of other lWE affected states, availability of force and security situation in the particular State. This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary in a written reply to a question earlier in the Rajya Sabha.
Chhattisgarh stands fourth in the country in terms of the number of districts affected by left Wing Extremism (lWE). A total of 106 districts in the States are considered as left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected. Of these, Bihar has maximum 22 districts, followed by Jharkhand (21), Odisha(19), Chhattisgarh (16), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,- both 8 each, West Bengal and Maharashtra,- both 4 each, Uttar Pradesh,- 3 and Madhya Pradesh, one.
It is clear that number of districts which witnessed some form of lWE activities have been decreasing, it was informed in the Rajya Sabha Apart from the above, it is worth mentioning that the numbers of incidents of lWE violence and resultant deaths have also significantly declined during the last four years from 2011 to 2014.
The Central government has approved a revised cost of Rs 3045 crore under its Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas of Chhattisgarh. Overall, the Centre has approved a Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for improvement of road connectivity in left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected areas of a total of 34 Districts in 8 States covering 5477 km length (1126 km NHs & 4351 km State Roads.
In Chhattisgarh, the fund had been approved for improvement of road connectivity in lWE affected areas measuring 2019 kms . As per details of Physical Progress achieved as on March 1, 2015 under RRP the length of road completed between 2010-11 to 2014-15 in the insurgency infested areas in Chhattisgarh upto February 28,2015 is 868 kms.
As per the State-wise details of fund allocated and expenditure incurred under lWE scheme, Chhattisgarh an expenditure of Rs 190 crore was made from 2010-11 to 2014-15 upto February 28, 2015. This information was given by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply earlier in the lok Sabha.
last year, the Central government had also simplified the procedure for offering general approval under Section-2 of Central Forest Conservation Act 1980, keeping in view the need of infrastructural development for public utility. This implied that general approval for construction of roads on forest land in a total of ten left Wing Extremism (lWE) affected districts of Chhattisgarh will now be granted easily, official informed here.
As per the simplified procedure, the general approval for construction of two-lane highways on forest land will be given by State Government itself. In this context, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand had issued a circular to Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of all the departments and also to the Divisional Commissioners and District Collectors. According to the officials, simplification of clearance procedure will largely benefit the areas of 10 lWE affected districts of the State, by expediting construction of roads in Chhattisgarh and connecting it to mainstream development.
The 10 lWE affected districts include Bastar (Jagdalpur), Bijapur, Dantewada, Kanker, Narayanpur, Jashpur, Kabeerdham (Kawardha), Rajnandgaon, Koriya and Surguja. This simplified procedure will also be applicable in the new districts, which have been formed by reorganizing the aforementioned old districts. Notably, the BSNl has set a target of installing 146 mobile towers during the first phase in insurgency infested regions of Chhattisgarh. The towers would be installed for improving telephone connectivity of insurgency infested areas.
In the second phase, BSNl has target of installing as many as 100 towers. BSNl has been instructed to ensure availability spare batteries for mobile towers, so that the used up batteries may be replaced by new ones immediately, the meeting was informed. Besides, BSNl has also been given instructions to keep batteries in reserve for towers located in insurgency infested areas. BSNl has been ordered to provide proper training to local youths and police personnel for maintenance of these towers, officials stated.