Narayanpur (Chhattisgarh): About 7,000 villagers of 90 villages, including Indravati, Bijapur and Orchha of Bastar division staged a chakkajam protest and blocked the main road of Orchha Mandali Para on Sunday. The villagers have been carrying out the protest for the last three months opposing the setting up of a new police camp and the laying of a road. The villagers claimed that on the pretext of laying the road, they are forced to give up their lands and nature is compromised.
The protesters have been carrying out the protest in Narayanpur district since November 1 and in Irakbhatti, since October 18. A protestor said that as the administration neglected their demands as well as the protest, they had to block the road and had to stop emergency vehicles. To preserve nature, the villagers have also demanded that the functioning of the Amadai mine be stopped. The protesters, including women and children, blocked the roads to make their presence felt and continued seeking their demands.
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On January 18, members of tribal communities of Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh staged protest camps on the inter-state border, which lasted for 14 days against the construction of a bridge across the Indravati river. They argued that the bridge is being constructed without providing any basic facilities in their habitations, which they say will eventually lead to the loot of Jal-Jungle-Zameen (water, forest and land).
People from 20-25 villages from Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra are taking part in the protests here. They deplore that there are no basic facilities in their villages even after 75 yrs of independence. Such bridges are only to facilitate the loot of 'Jal-Jungle-Zameen'. "Our protests began on January 4 and we intend to continue them indefinitely, said Lalsu Nogoti," a tribal leader.
