Ashutosh Mishra

By Ashutosh Mishra

Bhubaneswar: Finally the residents of Dhuliput and Maliguda, the two remote villages under the Chitrakonda block of Malkangiri’s once infamous “cut-off” area, rechristened as Swabhiman Anchal following the inauguration of Gurupriya bridge in 2018, have a metalled road.

Cut off from development these villages have for decades been part of a benighted hinterland where neither good roads exist nor people have access to quality healthcare and education. Worse they were forced to live under the shadow of Maoist guns.

What is significant is that the project costing Rs.24 lakh was executed by the newly formed Dhuliput panchayat which will now have its own office and Anganwadi centre. Things are definitely changing in this area which was once seen as the backwaters of the civilized world.

For several decades people of Swabhiman Anchal, which got cut off from the mainland following the construction of Machkund reservoir in 1960 and later the Balimela Hydel project, communicated with the mainland only with the help of boats. They faced all kinds of hardships, the most glaring being almost complete lack of health facilities. During emergencies, they found it almost impossible to reach the mainland where better hospitals and health centres were located.

It’s not that the administration did not want to help them. But reaching out to people of the area was a challenge. While there were hardly any communication facilities the fear of Maoists made government officials wary of venturing into the remote villages. Red rebels ruled the roost in the area and emboldened by their repeated success against the security forces they resorted to extreme daredevilry in 2011 kidnapping then Malkangiri collector, R. Vineel Krishna.

The “cut-off” belt was an area of darkness and no one thought it would ever come out of it. But the opening of Gurupriya bridge has changed everything. It is a shining example of how the development of communication links, especially roads and bridges can transform the lives of people. The bridge has made it possible for the administration to reach out to the people of the area, interact with them and try to understand and address their problems.

This is democracy in the true sense of the term. When the administration can make positive interventions to ameliorate the lives of people who have for decades remained cut off from development it generates new confidence among the beneficiaries. It makes them want to actually become part of the developmental process and in the long run the process of decision making.

Call it coincidence but ever since the inauguration of the bridge Maoist violence in the area has not only de-escalated significantly but there have also been cases of rebels in Malkangiri and its adjoining districts sending surrender feelers to the authorities. It seems there is growing realisation among the radicals that the bridge having ensured easy movement of security forces in the area it would be difficult for them to sustain their “revolutionary” activities there for a long time. There are now only two options left for them—either they quit the area or lay down arms. Both ways it is good for the people.

(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same)

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