Peace Dawns On Bastar, But New Challenges Emerge Along Telangana Border
Illegal activities surface in forest areas as Maoist influence declines; questions raised over the future of Adivasis
Warangal:A visible transformation is under way in the Dandakaranya forests, which had witnessed decades of Maoist violence and gunfire. Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrating Diwali with security personnel in Bastar -- once a stronghold of Maoists and a major challenge for security forces -- symbolises this change.
The PM’s call to the cadre to end Maoist violence and move towards development has once again brought the future of Dandakaranya into focus.
Security forces are now operating more extensively in the Bastar forests, which people once feared entering. This has created opportunities to expand roads, electricity, education, healthcare and communication networks. However, as Maoist influence declines, the emergence of new forms of illegal activity alongside development has emerged as a cause for concern.
Against this backdrop, the forests along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, particularly the Karregutta hills and the forest areas of Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts, have assumed greater significance.
On August 10, Telangana DGP CV Anand visited the Karregutta hills and hoisted the National Flag at a height of 650 feet. This was the first time in nearly 50 years that a team of senior government officials had reached the area by road.
The DGP announced plans to develop Karregutta as a tourist destination without damaging its forest wealth and to create livelihood opportunities for local tribal communities. He described the initiative as a fresh beginning for development in an area where peace was returning.
However, recent incidents in Bastar have exposed another dimension of the changing situation. On November 3, police busted a major gambling operation being conducted under the guise of cockfights in the Raiguda forest area under Bhadrakali police station limits in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh. Cases were registered against 156 people, and police seized `20.01 lakh in cash, 47 four-wheelers and 12 mobile phones.
The presence of such a large number of gamblers in a remote forest area has raised suspicions about a possible interstate network.
According to a police officer of OSD rank who had earlier served in Chhattisgarh, activities such as cockfights and card games were reported in Bastar's forest areas during weekly markets in the past as well. Police sources recalled that gamblers from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and the Godavari basin also reached up to these areas.
A former Maoist said that when Maoist influence was strong, the police were primarily focusing its attention on tracking Maoist movements, weapons transportation and forest routes. With the situation changing, surveillance has now expanded to cover other illegal activities as well.
Bhupalpally DSP Avirineni Sampath Rao said the developments in Chhattisgarh called for continuous vigilance along Telangana's border areas. He stressed the need to closely monitor interstate vehicle movement and suspicious activity along remote forest routes. Improved information-sharing and coordination with Chhattisgarh police could help identify and prevent such illegal activities at an early stage, he suggested.
Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts share borders with Chhattisgarh. As road connectivity improves across the forest belt stretching from Karregutta to Bastar, tourism and livelihood opportunities should expand. At the same time, the police must ensure that these areas do not become centres for gambling, illegal transportation and other unlawful activities.
The silencing of Maoist guns is an important development in the restoration of peace. However, the benefits of this peace must reach the Adivasi communities. Their land, forest rights and livelihoods need to be protected.
The main question now is, how far announcements about tourism development in Karregutta and the changing situation in Bastar will translate into improvements in the lives of local people. Development must bring tangible benefits to Adivasi households in forests where guns have fallen silent, while vigilance along the border must be strengthened to prevent illegal networks from establishing new bases.