Local businesses scared, BRO to build roads in Bastar Red fort | India News – Times of India

RAIPUR: The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has stepped into the den of dreaded Maoist commander Hidma Bastar Division to build roads that no civilian contractor dared to take. BRO is known for its expertise in building roads in treacherous, mountainous regions of Ladakh and the Northeast, and Chhattisgarh is perhaps the only Maoist-affected state where it has been deployed, an officer said. BRO teams started working in a remote part of Bijapur on Monday.
In 2004-2006, during a period of intense Maoist violence, BRO had constructed a 100 km road between Jagdalpur and Geedam in Dantewada. It’s still the best in Bastar. This time the assignment has taken the road specialists to the most volatile hotbed of them all Maoist insurgency in Bastar. BRO will build two roads, from Hidma’s village Puwarti to Silger, and from Tarrem to Kondapalli.
Puwarti is Hidma’s native village and is barely 2 km from Tekulguda, where 23 security personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush in April 2021. And Silger was the scene of intense protests after three villagers were killed in police firing on May 17, 2021.
Local contractors were too scared to take on projects in these areas and several tenders went unanswered. According to sources, the Union Home Minister intervened and BRO was given the job.
Officials did not share details of the routes but said the road between Tarrem and Kondapalli will be 18 km long and that from Silger to Puwarti will be 11 km. The Tarrem-Kondapalli section is expected to be completed by June 2025 at a cost of around Rs 40 crore. ‘This is another step towards achieving the target Union Home Minister Amit Shah“It is our promise to eliminate the Maoists by March 2026,” Bastar group IG P ​​Sundarraj said.