C’garh: Bus service to Maoist stronghold Pamed from Bijapur resumes after 3 decades
Raipur: Bus service to Pamed from the district headquarters of Bijapur in south Bastar in Chhattisgarh has resumed after around three decades following sanitization of the Maoist stronghold with establishment of Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) by the security forces.
The establishment of the security camps has helped the restoration of public transportation in the Tarrem-Pamed route, considered the stronghold of Maoists’ formidable military unit, battalion one, a senior police officer said on Sunday.
The public transport service covers the three regions of Pamed, Tarrem and Jagargunda, considered the core area of Maoists.
“The road infrastructure in the Pamed-Tarrem region, considered the core area of Maoists, has been developed in view of the establishment of FOBs in the route. The bus service from district headquarters of Bijapur to Pamed resumed after around three decades”, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj told this newspaper.
Pamed under Usoor tehsil in Bijapur district has till now remained inaccessible from district headquarters of Bijapur and the local tribals had to take a circuitous route from Telangana to reach Pamed.
The opening of Bijapur-Pamed route for public transport has reduced the distance between the two places by around 200 km, a senior district officer said.
The public transport service now covers Pamed, Tarrem and Jagargunda regions, once declared by Maoists as their liberated zones.
Major Maoist attacks on security forces and detonation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) targeting the security forces have been reported in the regions of Pamed, Tarrem and Jagargunda in the last three decades, police said.
The resumption of bus service will speed up normalization of the situation in the area, leading to the increase in economic activities, Mr. Sunderraj said.
Around 20,000 tribals under two dozen gram panchayats comprising nearly 50 villages will be benefitted by the resumption of public transport service in the route, he added.
The local weekly markets in the belt closed due to Maoist violence will reopen, ushering in economic development for the local tribals.
Besides, the people in the remote villages in the region will now have direct access to the district headquarters of Bijapur, Mr. Sunderraj said.