Fate of road under construction uncertain after naxal attack

Over 25 vehicles including trucks, the site office, and a hot mix plant worth crores of rupees were gutted in the attack while some of the company's 100-odd employees were slapped and beaten

The construction of a 36 km-long tar road between Purada-Yerkad, passing through Dadpur in Kurkheda tehsil (48 km from Gadchiroli) is in jeopardy, after an arson attack by Naxals in the wee hours of Wednesday. Over 25 vehicles including trucks, the site office, and a hot mix plant worth crores of rupees were gutted in the attack. The equipment belongs to Chhattisgarh based M/s Amar Infrastructure (Pvt) Ltd, which has called back all its 100-odd employees after the incident.
Interestingly, this is the first project by M/s Amar Infrastructure (Pvt) Ltd in Maharashtra and the company has decided not to proceed with the work, without an assurance of safety from the Maharashtra government.

First project in Maharashtra

Speaking to mid-day from Chhattisgarh, Surendra Rathi, one of the directors in the company said, "We have been involved with many projects within Chhattisgarh, but our head office is located close to the Maharashtra border (two hours drive) from Mahesh Nagar, Durg, Chhattisgarh so we decided to expand our work to the border areas of Maharashtra." Accordingly, when the tender was floated for construction of the tar road connecting Purada to Yerkad, covering a total of 36 km of Maharashtra State highway running to few crores of rupees, we applied and were fortunate to get the contract, said Rathi. He added, "Our 100 employees including labourers, operators, and technical staff have been working from Dadpur area for past three months and had constructed a 10-12 km stretch, as per the plan."

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The incident

Talking about the incident, Rathi said, "In the wee hours of Wednesday when the workers were at the site, hundreds of Naxals suddenly emerged from the forest. They were armed and started attacking and abusing our men. And before our men could understand what was happening, some Naxals started setting the vehicles and construction equipment on fire. Fortunately, other than slapping and beating some of our workers, they did not cause any serious injuries to them." "We have been carrying out construction of roads and bridges in Chhattisgarh and haven't faced a single Naxal attack. But this is our first project in Maharashtra, and we have a bad experience," he added. They have workers from Rajasthan, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. "We are not safe in our own country and cannot afford to risk the lives of our innocent workers. We won't be able to continue with the construction in Gadchiroli unless the government of Maharashtra assures us safety and protection," Rathi said.

Losses might be around Rs 8 cr

When asked about the losses, he said, "We are still in a state of shock, after learning about the IED blast that killed the police team. We haven't ascertained our losses, but they might be around R8 crore." They have insurance cover for the vehicles and equipment. Senior police officers from Gadchiroli informed mid-day that this was not the first attempt by Naxals to stop infrastructure work. BSNL towers for better communications with police check posts deep inside the forest areas of Gadchiroli have been set on fire in the past by the Naxals, cutting off police and para commando teams when they venture into the forest.

Rs 8crore
The estimated loss due to the arson attack

Also Read: Gadchiroli blasts: Senior officers puzzled by use of IEDs in attack

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