UP's naxal-affected districts: Flush with funds but no progress

UP’s three Naxal-affected districts , Sonbhadra , Chandauli and Mirzapur , limping out of the shadow of the menace have again slipped into decay . Though no major Naxal activity has been reported rom the region after the 2004 Naugarh andmine blast , the rash of initial ‘development ’ has come to a standstill .

Following the 2004 incident , aggressive policing pushed back the Naxals and the state and central governments pumped n large funds for development . Strict vigil is still maintained along the borders with neighbouring states like Bihar , Jharkhand , Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh .

But the utilisation of funds under a spate of schemes : chief among them the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS ) and Security Related Expenditure (SRE ) has been iffy and uneven . The condition of the poor has deteriorated while the wealth of mmigrants has risen . The disparity is evident in Sonbhadra . While localities housing the immigrant population show signs of prosperity , those of original locals are in tatters . The district has four assembly segments . Barring Renukoot , where industrial development has generated employment for locals , the remaining three are underdeveloped . Ghorawal , where crusher units make up its ‘industry’ , is known for tomato cultivation . But, at times tomato growers have junk huge quantities when there is surplus yield . Ramjanam , a tomato cultivator , says , “For many years we have been demandng food processing units that can help increase farmers ’ earnings and avoid wastage of tomato . But no attention has been paid .”

Robertsganj , the district headquar ters and a core Maoist zone , lacks both higher and technical education facilities and specialty hospitals . Power plants in Obra assembly electrify many parts of the state but locals reel under power crisis Roads are in a pitiable state and pollution is sky-high : there is an always-present dust haze from the mines and crusher units and ash and smoke from power plant chimneys .

Villages get drinking water from the Rihand dam , but chemical disposal has polluted the water . Amarnath , a Roberts ganj resident says , “Crisis of water and compulsion of consuming polluted water is not limited to Obra , Renukoot and Dud dhi; even residents of Robertsganj suffer badly .” The Kanhar dam project is in its 35th year of construction .

Mirzapur’s famed ceramic pottery and carpet industry is in decay . Chunar’s over 200 ceramic pottery units have dwindled drastically to a single unit . “Increasing cost of coal and poor valuation of our products led to the closure of units ,” say Ashok and Santosh Prajapati , who now make plaster-of-Paris idols to earn a livelihood. Barring the one unit , ceramic pot tery business has shifted to Khurja .