Title - Bhilai steel plant may face closure due to threat from Maoists

The iconic Bhilai steel plant in Chhattisgarh, a symbol of India’s industrial prowess, may face closure following threats from Maoists who are against the proposed Rowghat iron ore mine, which will supply raw material once the mining at Dalli-Rajhara stops in the next four to five years.Set up in 1955 with the help of the erstwhile USSR, the steel plant’s secret of success is its proximity to high quality iron ore in Dalli-Rajhara in Chhattisgarh. Due to the fast-depleting resources at the existing mining site, the Government has already given all statutory clearances for mining at Rowghat. But it being a Maoist-dominated area, the Government and its other agencies have developed cold feet. Explaining the difficulties of mining in Rowghat, which is necessary to maintain the iron ore supply to the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) unit, a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official said the Government needed to deal with the villagers and locals as the mines lay in around 2,030 hectares of land in the Kanker and Narayanpur districts of Chhattisgarh. And for transportation of ore, a 90-km-long track had to be laid through Balod-Kanker-Narayanpur-

Kondagaon-Jagdalpur.

“All these areas have strong presence of Maoists and they enjoy the support of villagers. Maoists are strongly opposing mining activities in Rowghat and forcing villagers to oppose the project. Maoists have been threatening violence if the Government moves ahead with the project. We have around five years to get the mines and other logistics support ready or else steel production at Bhilai will be a big challenge,” the official said. Notably, the Bhilai plant is the country’s sole producer of rails and heavy steel plates, besides being the sole supplier of the country’s longest rail tracks of 260 metres.According to Minister of State of Home Affairs Jitendra Singh, “The mines are located in areas considered the strongholds of the CPI[Maoist]. An attractive compensation package has been put in place for people likely to be affected by this project, but the CPI[Maoist] and its front organisations are vehemently opposing this project.”

“Their [Maoists’] main fear stems from the fact that this area, once opened up for development, will cease to provide them with cadres and hideouts to carry on their so-called ‘protracted peoples war’ against the Indian State… a systematic disinformation campaign has also been launched that this mining activity has corporate linkages, which is completely untrue,” Mr. Singh said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.Pointing out that due to the threat from Maoists, the project was running behind schedule and the contractors were facing serious danger to their lives, Mr. Singh said the Home Ministry had decided to enhance security for the project by deploying more paramilitary personnel after consultations with the Ministries of Railways and Steel. “We are also trying to create public opinion against the disruptive activities of the CPI [Maoist] and counter their disinformation and propaganda campaign against this project,” he said.

The Minister also pointed out that construction of a railway line and other related activities in the remotely-located mining areas would change the development dynamics of the backward region and generate employment to the local people.