FOR the second successive year in a row, Naxalites of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) issued a call for a nationwide two-day economic blockade on June 26 and 27 and successfully imposed it in different parts of the country.

Its impact was felt in their bastions in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. In 2006, the Maoists imposed an economic blockade on June 14 and 15 in their strongholds in the forests in parts of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. While the railways were the principal target of Naxalite violence during the recent blockade, other infrastructure, too, was attacked. Road transport came to a grinding halt in the mining belts of both Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and commercial activity was hit in the Maoist strongholds in different states.

The present blockade and destruction caused in its wake fits into the pattern and current Maoist strategy of targeting infrastructure, and could be of security concern in future too. Beginning a few hours before the blockade was to commence, and during the course of the blockade, the Maoists blasted Biramdih railway station, Purulia district, West Bengal. They blew up railway tracks near Gomia and Dania in Bokaro district, and two more stretches in Latehar district; blasted a railway engine and set another engine and 12 wagons ablaze, and seized the Jodhpur-Howrah train near Parasnath railway station, Giridih district, in Jharkhand. Among other things, they removed fishplates on the Kirandaul-Visakhapatnam line in Chhattisgarh, attacked the Panam coalmines located in Pakur district, Jharkhand, and blew up a telecom tower and made a failed attempt to destroy the Balimela hydroelectric power generation plant in Malkangiri district, Orissa.

In Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Chhattisgarh many trains were cancelled, curtailed or diverted. Road traffic was either sparse or came to a grinding halt along the state and national highways, and in the interior areas in all these States, including in Arwal, Jehanabad, Gaya, Patna (Bihar), Purulia, Bankura, Midnapore (West Bengal), Dantewada, Bastar, Narayanpur, Bijapur (Chhattisgarh), for instance. Further, commercial activity was significantly hit in all these states. While the cumulative economic impact of the blockade is yet not known, experts note that Jharkhand alone has suffered a loss of Rs 150 crore, in two days.

While launching their current strategy of targeting infrastructure in the past one month in what is being described as a tactical counter-offensive campaign (TCOC), the Maoists in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh set off explosions destroying three high tension electric transmission towers on May 31 and two more on June 2. Effectively, six districts in Bastar had plunged into darkness for one week; normal power distribution in the entire affected area was impaired for 12 days. Even as normalcy was restored, the Maoists struck once again in Narayanppur district in the Bastar region on June 24 and blasted two more high tension transmission towers, thus causing a blackout once again.

The blackout in Bastar badly affected the functioning in hospitals, the communication system and rail traffic besides in iron ore mines. The National Mineral Development Corporation's (NMDC) Bailadila mines - from where high quality iron ore is extracted for export to Japan and for internal use - incurred a loss of Rs 16 crore per day. The resultant total loss was Rs 160 crore. Similarly, work in the privately owned Essar Steels, too, was hit, resulting in a loss of Rs 2.5 crore per day, while iron ore supplies to Ispat and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant were hit. The Railways had incurred a loss of approximately Rs 20 crore.

That is not all. All industrial activity and an overwhelming part of commercial activity were severely affected, if not came to a grinding halt, in Bastar. However, the blackout generated 'unexpected' business: small-time generator operators made a fast buck by offering to re-charge cell phones, etc. But someone did pay for it!

It is estimated that the destruction and blackout caused a total loss of a whooping Rs 2000 crore! Clearly, the Maoists have proved that their destructive capacities can bring life to a near-complete halt, and that they can hold six districts to ransom, at will, for a full fortnight.

Also, on May 27, in Bastar, the Maoists blasted properties of Essar Steel and damaged a railway bridge between Bacheli and Kirandul and the railway track between Bhansi and Bacheli, causing huge revenue losses to the East Coast Railways. Besides, much as on several earlier occasions, on June 11 a few hundred Maoists attacked NMDC assets once again, this time in Bacheli, and destroyed 100 metres of conveyor belt that carries iron ore.

In the adjoining Malkangari district, Orissa, the rebels made a failed attempt to blast a telecom tower on June 14. On May 30, in neighbouring East Godavari district's Donkarayi area, Andhra Pradesh, they made another failed attempt to blow up a power transmission centre, causing minor damages.

The economic blockade and these repeated acts of targeting infrastructure speak of Maoist intentions: paralyse normal life, sabotage economic activity, dictate terms and allow life and economic activity on their 'terms and conditions'.

Besides, during the June 2006 blockade a majority of the markets in Dantewara, Kanker, Bastar and Surguja districts -Chhattisgarh - remained closed and vehicles kept off the road; life came to a near standstill in Orissa's southern districts of Malkangiri, Gajapati and Rayagada; and trains were cancelled in Bihar-Jharkhand along the Barkakana-Barwadih section, Dhanbad rail division, while routes of long-distance trains running on this section were changed. Indeed, there have been no estimates of the total financial loss that this economic blockade had caused.

Thus, in future, infrastructure and several proposed big industries are vulnerable to potential Maoist attacks. At stake is a proposed investment of Rs 2,639 billion in a slew of steel plants and power projects in Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

Many defence, vital and economic installations and railway assets across the country are also equally vulnerable. The threat assumes greater significance in the wake of the Maoists having established a continuous string of presence across the country along both the north-south and east-west axes.

The Maoists have unambiguously articulated the limits to their violent campaign: the destruction of the Indian state. But the government does not seem to have as yet set a limit to its inertia.

The writer is Research Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

Courtesy: www.tribuneindia.com, July 02, 2007