If there were to be an Achilles heel for Telangana, it would be Khammam. .
Currently, there is not much of Maoist activity in Telangana State owing to relentless counter insurgency operations and loss of people’s support for the revolutionary movement. But if the Maoists were to try to re-establish their base, it could only be through this district which shares border with Bastar, the red zone in Chhattisgarh.
Khammam was to share borders with extremist affected areas of Odisha too, but Chintur mandal on the border was merged with the successor State of Andhra Pradesh by the Centre in view of the submergence of areas by Polavaram project. This Chintur mandal now in Andhra Pradesh will share borders with Odisha, Telangana and Chhattisgarh and thus this tri-junction will be of crucial importance both for the red brigade and the police.
In the post-bifurcation scenario, checking the spread of Maoist activity will be the biggest challenge to the security agencies in addition to keeping a constant vigil on the porous border and checking inter-state movement of Maoists, feel security experts.
The inter-state border with Chhattisgarh runs across the tribal sub-plan mandals - Charla, Dummugudem, Wajedu and Venkatapuram mandals of the Bhadrachalam division.
These mandals are considered highly volatile due to their close proximity with the dense forest pockets in the core Dandakaranya forest belt falling in Sukma and Bijapur districts of Chhattisgarh. Police source say use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is the only solution for keeping a vigil on the borders.
“Any deviation from the current counter-insurgency strategy may give scope for rebels to revive their base in the agency areas. There is likelihood of rebels trying to win over the Adivasi youths by taking advantage of the widespread resentment among Adivasis against Polavaram project,” a police officer argues.
Notwithstanding increasing number of encounters, arrests and surrenders of the Maoist leaders in the last few years, the rebels managed to carry out blast cell phone towers, equipment engaged in road construction works and their targets periodically in Bhadrachalam Agency.
The plight of the Adivasis living in villages on the borders and that of the internally displaced Adivasis is all set to turn from bad to worse in such a scenario.
Police are keen on completion of the Centre-sponsored road works that were held up due to “Naxal threats” and problems associated with forest clearance in Bhadrachalam division. Road connectivity is vital to help tribals living in the far flung areas to gain access to education and employment opportunities besides better medical services.
