In remote villages like Kurnapalli and Giserelli tucked away along the periphery of Maoist infested inter-State border with Chhattisgarh in Bhadrachalam division, an uneasy calm pervades with the fear of escalation of an armed conflict between Maoists and security forces ahead of the elections.
Also, a cluster of interior villages in the remote tribal pockets of Charla mandal located a few km from the highly volatile border continues to reel under constant fear with several development and welfare initiatives hitting a roadblock. The Pedamidisileru-Kurnapalli stretch of road works is held up due to “reluctance” of the contractors to resume the work owing to Maoist threat and cost escalation. Maoists allegedly dug up a portion of the kucha road over two years ago resulting in abrupt stoppage of the BT road work.
The much-touted Indiramma housing scheme failed to make any headway in remote villages such as Gisarelli. Located 175 km from the district headquarters town of Khammam, Gisarelli, the tiny habitation with a population of over 120 villagers belonging to weaker sections, has more than 30 thatched houses.
Although Indiramma houses were sanctioned to 16 villagers in the first phase, none of the beneficiaries could construct houses due to the alleged official apathy. “Middlemen demand Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 to get the Indiramma houses grounded,” says Venkataramana of the same village. However, T Maheshwar, Executive Engineer, Housing, Bhadrachalam division attributes the delay to the beneficiaries seeking more time to pool up resources.
Meanwhile, Maoists launched a wall poster campaign calling upon people to boycott the elections. The rebels unleashed terror in Chintur mandal last month by killing a CPI(M) activist by branding him as a police informer.
The district police have stepped up vigil along the 200-km long porous inter-State border to check the infiltration of rebels. Counter action teams have been pressed into service in the wake of intelligence reports that more than a half-a-dozen action teams of the Maoists are on the prowl in the interior areas of Bhadrachalam division. A few polling stations in Charla mandal have been relocated to safer places keeping in view of the threat perception from the rebels. “A helicopter has been requisitioned to tackle any kind of eventuality during the elections,” says A.V. Ranganath, Superintendent of Police, Khammam. More than 17 companies of Central paramilitary forces are being deployed for election duty.
