NAGPUR: The government is planning to build a major bridge on the Gundenur nullah near Beenagunda, which is part of the Maoist stronghold Abujhmadh, where a pregnant woman had died last year, unable to cross the overflowing rivulet in monsoon.
There is also a proposal to construct a 20km road beyond Gundenur nullah till Maharashtra border, to connect Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh in future.
The proposed bridge and the road, for which surveys are underway, would bring development to the remotest part of the inhospitable region. More than a half-a-dozen tribal hamlets here get cut off from the rest of the district during monsoon, leading to many deaths without medical assistance and crisis of essential commodities too.
This project is part of the four major bridges and 14 smaller ones in Maoist-affected south Gadchiroli sanctioned for development with the initiative of Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari.
Public works department’s (PWD) highway division is aiming to complete the major bridge projects on rivers Perimili, Bandeya and Parlakota, costing around Rs175 crore, by next monsoon, along with the 14 smaller bridges at various locations costing around Rs70 crore.
The proposed major bridges at Chodampalli and the one on Dena river between Ashti and Alapalli would help to maintain connectivity between Ashti and Alapalli round the year unlike now when it gets cut off during several days in the monsoon. A road and the two bridges in the 45km stretch between Ashti and Alapalli would be constructed with budget of around Rs500 crore.
The construction work beyond Beenagunda, which is considered the gateway to Abujhmadh, the location of maximum top Maoists, their arms training camps and manufacturing units, is likely to be a challenge for government agencies.
Sources said the survey team under a senior official has already been sternly asked by Maoist representatives to drop the survey and leave the place.
Gadchiroli district collector Deepak Singla said the bridge at Gundenur would bring much respite to the tribals staying in the stretch, who are helplessly cut off during monsoon and also remain bereft of development. “We are in the process of constructing major bridges at Chodampalli and also on the Dena River, which will help connectivity and respite during monsoon,” he said. “The detailed project reports are being prepared, which would be followed by tendering process,” he said.
Executive engineer Vivek Mishra, who is overseeing the project in south Gadchiroli, said these bridges and roads would boost economic activities just like the development in Sironcha after the construction of the Kaleshwaram bridge.
SP Ankit Goyal said government agencies like PWD and police department would coordinate on the security issues as is done in any development work. “The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) would be followed and it shall be ensured the work is completed as soon as possible,” he said.
