The district police started a free bus service from Annavaram to Korukonda, which is a stretch of around 22 km, in Visakha agency on Monday. The bus will make three trips — morning, afternoon and evening — and will also make one trip to Chintapalli mandal headquarters, once a day, which is again over 20 km from Korukonda.
There has been no bus service till date as the area is said to be affected by Maoists, said ASP Chintapalli A. Vidyasagar Naidu. The bus and the staff have been provided by the APSRTC and the district police will bear the service cost.
To facilitate smooth running of the bus, the district police also got repaired around 9 km stretch of road from Rallagadda.
Inaugurating the bus service, Mr. Vidyasagar said that it was a historic moment, as the tribals, who have been walking all the way since the Independence, will now have a bus service. The project was launched on instructions from SP (Visakhapatnam) B. Krishna Rao.
Earlier, last year, the district police had launched a similar bus service in G-Madugula mandal.
With the bus service the mood is upbeat and tribals are now seeking more developmental activities and rejecting the ideas of the left wing extremists, he said.
After the recent alleged murder of Korra Pilku (35) in Kothapalem village, a former militia member, by the Maoists in GK Veedhi mandal, the tribals had come out openly protesting the killing.
They had earlier taken up similar protests after two other tribals were killed in similar fashion in G Madugula in December last.
The open protest against the Maoistsh had begun in October 2014, when tribals had killed two Maoists, including Sharat who was of DCM cadre, at Veeravaram village in Chintapalli mandal, in retaliation to the killing of one Sanjeeva Rao in Balapam, said a senior officer from the Intelligence Department, who is engaged in anti-Maoist operations.
