Police hint at Naxalite link as villagers' protest against 'mining' road in Maha's Gadchiroli enters 19th day

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A protest against a road that villagers in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district claim is to facilitate mining activities that would lead to destruction of the environment entered its 19th day on Thursday.

Residents of 70 villages under Surjagarh Todgatta gram sabha have been protesting in the remote Naxalite-affected area under the banners of the Damkondwahi Bachav Kruti Samiti and Paramparik Surjagarh Ilaka Samiti.

"The road construction underway between Gatta village in Ettapalli taluka near the Chhattisgarh border and Todgatta will be used to ferry mining items and will destroy the forest cover, tribal habitat and environment here," one of the protest organisers said.

However, a senior police official said there is no proposal to commission any mine in Damkondawahi in the vicinity and the road was to connect the villages to the main network in the district.

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He alleged villagers on both sides of the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border were possibly being threatened by Naxalites to take part in this protest.

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