Eco-tourism to curb Maoist activity

The state government is combating Maoist activity through determined and large –scale laying of Panchayat Raj, R & B roads and promoting eco- tourism in the Naxal- affected areas. These strategies are likely to push the Maoists into a further corner further of north Telangana in the days to come.

Adilabad district alone is seeing the laying of these roads at a cost of Rs 1,390 crore. Naxal activity has declined in north Telangana with the substantial improvement of road connectivity in the interior areas in last 20 years under successive state and Central government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana, Backward Regional Grant Funds (BRGF) and also with the World Bank’s funds.

Minister for forest and environment Jogu Ramanna said so far road and bridge works worth of nearly Rs 550 crore out of allocated sum of Rs 1,390 crore had been completed at various places including interior areas. The remaining works would take place at different levels in the district.

Huge road laying activity and newly laid roads have been seen in the rural and interior areas in the course of last one year in the Adilabad district.    

The state government is focusing on laying internal roads from villages to mandal and mandal headquarters to district headquarters and converting the existing roads into double roads. Some of the proposed road works in interior forest areas were yet to take off due to lack of clearance from the forest department.

The Tourism department has come out with eco- tourism projects and trekking tours in the jungles that were  once the strongholds of Maoists from Adilabad via Karimnagar, Warangal, and Khammam districts.

The Maoist activity will quite naturally decline in these areas with the buzz of  tourist arrivals becoming regular.

It will also become easier for the police to visit the interior areas and increase surveillance on Maoists and their sympathizers’ activity, if any, and develop a better informant networks if there is road connectivity to the interior areas.     

The central government is also encouraging the installation of cell towers in the interior and Naxal- affected areas to improve communication networks in a bid to control Maoist activities.