Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday said that the development works are related to public concerns and therefore the Bodhghat

project will start only when the people of Bastar agree on it.

The CM stated this while addressing media during his Kanker visit on Monday. The Chief Minister said that development taking place rapidly in Bastar. In three and a half years, Bastar has progressed a lot in the field of development.

The decisions taken by the government regarding rural development and farming have strengthened the economic condition of the people. There has also been a pleasant change in the policy of collection of forest produce. The purchase of Mahua has increased. In the field of education, people are getting better facilities through Swami Atmanand English Medium Schools and in the field of health people are being benefitted through mobile medical units in Haat Bazar. Instructions have been given to officials to ensure that there should be no delay in any work of public interest. Tourism facilities are also expanding rapidly in Bastar. “We are expanding the air service. Effective implementation of schemes is being ensured,” said the Chief Minister. Deputy Speaker Manoj Mandavi, Women and Child Development Minister Anila Bhendia, Parliamentary Secretary Shishupal Sori, Advisor to Chief Minister Rajesh Tiwari and officials were present on the occasion. It may be mentioned, Bodhghat Project is a multipurpose hydro project in Chhattisgarh to which the centre has given its consent. In May 2020, the central government provided its consent to begin the first phase of this project. The project, which is estimated to cost Rs 22,000 crore, is most likely to generate 300 megawatts (MW) of hydel power. The project needs a dam to be constructed close to Barsoor village in Dantewada which would help in irrigation of 3,66,580 hectares (ha) of farmland. The area is Maoist affected situated in Dantewada, Bijapur, and Sukma districts. Environmentalists have raised the objection to Chhatisgarh government’s survey and also over the building of the multipurpose Bodhghat project on the Indravati river. The dam is to be constructed on Indravati river near Barsur village, Geedam development block in Dantewada district which is 100 km from Jagdapur district headquarters. Activists are raising issues about the displacement of the tribal communities. Many activities like Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan have questioned the viability of the project. Bastar also is enlisted as a fifth schedule area and is under special protection under the constitution. The idea is that tribal people do not lose their land and also must get rehabilitation land in case of displacement. 43 villages and 5704 hectares of forests would be submerged once the project is implemented. Also, 5010 hectares of private land and 3068 hectares if government land would be submerged. The forests would face the loss of economy as agriculture, fishing and herding would be destroyed. The project would also affect the ecology of Indravati Tiger Reserve, Bhairamgarh Wild Buffalo Sanctuary and other surrounding habitats of Indian Wild Buffalo. The project had got the environmental nod in 1979 for the generation of hydro-power. At that time this area lied under an undivided Madhya Pradesh, MP. The work could not start because the then government was under the impression that the venture was not suitable for the tribal-dominated people of Bastar. After 20 years of dormancy, the project has been modified into an irrigation project with the aims of providing water to thousands of parched Bastar villages.