Darkness illuminated: Abujmarh's first village to be electrified soon

RAIPUR: Virgin tribal heartland of Abujmarh — home to aboriginal tribes in the Maoist-dominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, will get its first electricity connection at village Chote Donger soon. Chief Minister Raman Singh will inaugurate electrification of the village in Maoist-dominated area. Singh chaired a meeting on Wednesday with officials of Energy department and said tha state government has rolled out plans to electrify all villages in the state by 2018.
Despite years of independence, villages in Abhujhmad remain in darkness due to dominance by Maoists, but taking our reach of development to another step, Chote Dongar village at Abujmarh would be the first to get electricity in that region, CM said.
CM also reviewed the installation of electric sub-stations in various parts of state and asked the department officials to implement the projects on a war-footing.
Elaborating about the project, Singh said, "The 198 electric sub-stations' projects of 33/11 k.v. capacity should be completed by June 2017. They will resolve the low voltage fluctuations issue. Thirty electric sub-stations are likely to come up at Rajnandgaon district, 27 sub-stations at Durg district, 22 sub-stations at Raipur and Raigarh districts, 18 at Mahasamund district, 17 at Surguja district, 15 at Bilaspur district, 14 sub-stations at Janjgir-Champa district, 12 at Bastar district (Jagdalpur) , 11 at Kanker distrct and 10 sub-stations at Korba district." He added that 29 electric sub-stations with 132 k.v. and above capacity are being installed in various parts of the State.
From Raita to Jagdalpur 400k.v. capacity electric lines are being laid. Raman Singh laid stress on completing the projects in two-year duration. The electric sub-stations are being constructed at Narayanpur, Bilaspur, Kawardha, Jagdalpur, Dharsiwha, Parsada, Mohala, Nagari, Wadrafnagar, raipur, Kondatarai, Pakhanjur, Bijapur, Damra, Shivrinarayan, Takatpur, Lormi, Kansabel, Dornapal Berla, Basna, Bhakhara, Charama, Borjhara, Batouli, Indhagaon and Sukma, Jagdalpur and Kurud.
The officials said that nearly five lakh below poverty line families had been given L.E.D. lamps under the 'Ujala Yojana'. Rest of the poor families will be provided with lamps by March-end.
Meanwhile, it's a welcoming move for tribals in Abujmarh region, spread over an area of more than 1,500 square miles — bigger than the geographical area of Goa state —Abujmarh has a dense forest cover, rocky terrain, rivers and rivulets and inaccessible forest villages, mainly inhabited by Gond and Muria tribes.
The population density in its mountain ranges, which falls in Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada districts and also borders with Maharashtra, is less than 10 persons per square mile.
Chief minister had announced to lift movement restrictions in Abujmarh few years back saying that satellite mapping to locate villages in the region is being carried out by the Indian Space Research Organisation for its development.
The movement restrictions in the region was imposed in the early 1980s when a foreign television channel telecast a documentary about the lives of Abujmarh tribals and the traditional "Gotul" system of Muria Gond tribes, allegedly showing them in nude and portraying their 'Gotul' system in poor light.
Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Energy Department Additional Chief Secretary N. Baijendra Kumar, Principal Secretary to CM Aman Kumar Singh, Mineral Resources Department Secretary Subodh Singh were among those present.