Red corridor dismantled: State-run bus rolls into mouth of tottering Maoist Hq of Abujmarh, tribals cheer with tricolour
2
Nagpur: A Maharashtra state-run bus rolled into the once booby-trapped tribal hamlet of Maraknar in the mouth of the tottering Maoist headquarters of Abujmarh on Wednesday, signalling the decimation of the Maoist liberated zones after 78 years of independence.
The village in south Gadchiroli's Bhamragarh taluka, which was earlier part of the 'janatana sarkar' or guerrilla-driven governance, cheered the arrival of the state bus at their doorstep, something unthinkable for the 100-odd tribals even a year ago as was possessing a cell phone or an Aadhaar card.
The service by
Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation
(MSRTC) will end a 6km treacherous trek through dense forests to Kothi town, where a state transport bus from Aheri would make a night halt to take back passengers the following day.
Not just Maraknar, at least 1,000 tribal residents and students of adjoining Murumbahushi, Phulnar, Koparshi, Poyarkothi, and Gundurwahi hamlets would benefit from the bus service.
On May 25,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
had lauded the launch of a bus service to Katezhari in Gadchiroli in his 'Man ki Baat'. Shortly after his address, Gadchiroli police and administration added a more daring chapter by ensuring the service touched the foothills of the Maoist headquarters of Abujmarh at Maraknar.
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Schoolchildren, true beneficiaries of the initiative, welcomed the bus by holding aloft tricolours as their parents walked along, drumming and sloganeering in support of the govt. Next year, the bus is scheduled to travel another kilometre to reach Murumbushi, where till a few years ago one could hear only gunshots and grenades exploding.
"We were able to launch the MSRTC bus service after Maraknar and adjoining areas adopted the govt's 'gaonbandi' scheme, banning entry of Maoists in return for development schemes.
Commandos began reclaiming liberated zones and extended protection to road construction and the setting up of mobile phone towers. The rest is history now," said SDPO Bhamragarh division Amar Mohite, who along with Gadchiroli SP Neelotpal, DIG Ankit Goyal, and IG Anti-Naxal Operation, Sandip Patil, ensured that 40 villages in and around Abujmarh embraced 'gaonbandi'.
"Earlier the MSRTC bus linked Aheri to Kothi via Bhamragarh. The same bus will now move another 5km from Kothi to Maraknar after the road was constructed, keeping guerrillas at bay," said Mohite. "Barely 800m are left to link remote Murumbushi to Maraknar. Security forces provided cover to labourers and equipment, but rains halted work," said the SDPO. "Next year, we will ensure the bus penetrates deeper into Murumbushi," he said.
A cell phone tower was recently erected in the village. Officials also lauded the roles of Kothi police station officer-in-charge Dilip Gawli and MSRTC depot manager, Aheri.
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