Karregutta (Telangana-Chhattisgarh border): The national flag was hoisted at the densely forested Karregutta Hills on the border of Telangana and Chhattisgarh on Monday, nearly 50 years after Maoist cadres had made the hilltop their stronghold. The Tricolour was hoisted less than a week before India celebrates its 80th Independence Day on Aug 15.During Operation Kagar that flushed out the insurgents from forests in different parts of the country, some Maoist leaders had used the region’s difficult terrain to make their land stand and littered the forest with landmines. During the operation, about 700 Maoists including several Central Committee members surrendered before police, allowing govt officials to take control of the region.The national flag was hoisted by Telangana DGP C V Anand along with top brass of the CRPF, Intelligence Bureau and forest department officials. They reached the hilltop at 650 feet in a battery of vehicles. Even now the stretch is unmotorable with road work under progress. The event was organised amid tight armed security provided by Telangana’s anti-naxal commandos Greyhounds and CRPF.“When the Maoists were still active, only Greyhounds and central commando forces would occasionally enter the forest and then withdraw,” Anand told TOI. “Now, both the Centre and state govts want to develop this region. Though it is a reserve forest, development will be taken up by tourism and forest departments.”“Given the serene forest here, we believe that tourism can be developed to provide employment to locals. Efforts are being made to have a bitumen road with culverts to increase access,” Anand added. Areas like Doli, Jella, Chalamala and Tadpala village are considered ideal locations for development projects. This area presently has no habitation since the locals were relocated for their safety during Operation Kagar.Officials are hoping that once basic infrastructure is put in place, it will help sow the seeds of development in the region. As a first step, a mud road from Pamunuru (base point of Karregutta hills) will be extended by 20 kilometers up to the border Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh.Until Maoist cadres were removed from the forest, senior officials mostly conducted only aerial surveys of the forest before returning to Hyderabad. The hostile hills were known for some bloody gunbattles between the insurgents and security forces with the landmines often killing local villagers while they were grazing cattle or collecting firewood.
