Just 300 meters from Kotul village, formerly known as the Maoist capital of Abu Jumaad, a small stream flows quietly through the dense Sal forests. In summer and winter, people walk across it just a few steps away. But once the monsoon arrives, the stream flows into a fast-flowing river, cutting off villages on both sides for weeks.
On one side of the river, workers are laying the foundation and mapping a permanent concrete bridge. A few meters away, villagers, in cooperation with security forces, built a temporary wooden bridge made of tree trunks, bamboo and concrete supports. Besides Kotul, the scene stretches across Abu Jahmad, where villagers and security forces have together built 53 temporary bridges of wood and bamboo ahead of the monsoon.
Spread over an area of approximately 4,000 square kilometers across Narayanpur, Bijapur and Dantewada districts, Abujahmd is one of the largest unsurveyed forest areas. About 60,000 tribes live in about 233 villages spread across its hills and forests. The forest revenue survey is being conducted for the first time since independence.
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“Before the monsoon, villagers collaborated with personnel of the district police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and district police to build 53 temporary bridges of wood and bamboo across water courses,” said a sub-officer of the Public Works Department, who was present near one such bridge, requesting anonymity.
The officer also said that these bridges will remain in use until the permanent concrete bridges, some of which have already been approved by the government, are completed within next year. Official records say that temporary bridges were built along several important roads, including the Kotul-Kudnar stretch on the Narayanpur-Madida axis, the Kudmil-Kummanar road, the Orcha-Lanka axis, the Kotul-Gobi corridor and the Garba-Kakur-Balipeda road. Permanent bridges have already been approved across most of these creeks, officials said. Construction has begun but will take nearly a year. These temporary bridges have been built to ensure that the villages remain connected during this monsoon.
For Ramu Ram Wade, a resident of Gawandi village panchayat, the bridges represent a big change. He added, “Earlier there were no temporary bridges and the villagers used to cross the streams on foot, and during the rainy season they used to swim. The Maoists never allowed the construction of roads or bridges as poor communication helped them and made it difficult for the security forces to move inside the forests.”
Officials say the exercise does more than just improve communication.
The bridges are being built under the supervision of the Narayanpur police’s ‘Maad Maitri Abhiyan’, which aims to strengthen relations between security forces and tribal communities.
“The initiative not only provided vital lifelines for essential supplies and medical emergencies, but also strengthened trust between security forces and tribal communities,” said Robinson Guria, Inspector of Police, Narayanpur.
This initiative is also important as this will be the first full monsoon for several security camps set up deep in Abu Jhamad after the recent anti-Maoist operations.
“The bridges will help villagers and security personnel move across the area during the rainy season,” the program representative said.
Standing near one of these bridges in Kudmil village, Vivek Bottai said he hoped the new crossings would save lives. “Many deaths were not reported in Abu Jahmad during the monsoon because the villages remained isolated and help could not arrive in time. We hope nothing like this will happen this year,” Butai said.
For decades, Abu Jahmad’s creeks symbolized isolation. Every monsoon, they cut off villages from hospitals, schools, markets and government services. Today, these same streams are crossed on bridges built jointly by villagers and security forces.
The 53 wooden bridges may not last for years, but they are already beginning to change the relationship between the state and one of India’s most remote tribal areas.
