The lack of something as basic as toilets at many police base camps located in Naxalite-affected areas in Chhattisgarh are making security personnel vulnerable to attacks from Maoist rebels. It is exactly what happened at remote Madanwada which later triggered a major incident resulting in the death of 30 securitymen, including an SP, in Rajnandgaon district on Sunday.

And this happens in a state where the panchayat Act stipulates that all elected members must construct flush toilets in their homes within a year of their election. Not long ago, a number of elected “panchs” of gram panchayats were removed from their posts for not having proper toilet facilities at their homes. This clearly indicates the ‘uneven priorities’ of the state government towards different areas, particularly with regard to providing basic infrastructure to security personnel fighting the Maoists in the tribal belt.

In the Naxal hotbed of Bastar as well as in other areas, most of the camps are temporary, with just barbed wire fencing serving as security. Bathroom and toilet facilities are a far cry.

Set up just a few months back, things were not different at the Madanwada camp located at an isolated forest area close to the border with Maharashtra. “During rains, one cannot reach there even on a bicycle and there is no habitation over a vast area surrounding the police outpost there,” says Manish Nirmalkar, a local journalist.

The outpost and base camp were established at Madanwada apparently in a hurry and were housed in temporary shelters made of tin sheets, reportedly donated by a major industrial unit in Bhilai on the personal request of senior police officials. There were no toilets, of course. This explains why the two constable became sitting ducks for Naxalites on Sunday morning as they were attending nature’s call out in the open. The Maoist rebels later ambushed the security team led by Rajnandgaon SP Vinod Kumar Choubey who rushed to the area after hearing about the two deaths.

... contd.