Tribals on warpath in Lalgarh; say can work better than govt

18 Jun 2009, PTI

LALGARH (WB): Hinting at a state within a state, tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato said his organisation could build infrastructure in just eight months in restive Lalgarh, which the state government could not do in 32 years.

“If the state government had done 10 per cent of the work we did, the situation would have been different,” Mahato, Convenor of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) said.

“We have laid at least 50 km of gravel path, dug tanks and tube wells and revived irrigation canals with the help of villagers,” he said.

Mahato claimed the PCAPA built a 60-feet-deep reservoir at Barapelia, where its headquarters is situated, and planned to revive a canal for irrigation.

A health centre with a doctor was also functioning at Kantapahari, he said.

Though the government built the road to Midnapore town, all link roads were constructed by the PCAPA, he said, claiming that this saved villagers from walking for miles through forests.

Maoists are on the rampage in Lalgarh, in Midnapore district of West Bengal bordering Orissa, targetting CPM cadres and party offices protesting against police “atrocities”.

Courtesy: THE TIMES OF INDIA