This Maharashtra Day, a tribal hamlet affected by Maoism has road, electric borewell for the first time since independence

This Maharashtra Day is a happy day for the residents of Binagunda, a remote tribal village on the Chhattisgarh border in the Abujmaad forests. The region is still one of the sensitive areas affected by Maoists. But Rama Durva, an old tribal man from the village, no longer has to undertake the arduous trek to get to Laheri. Located 18 kilometers from Binagunda, Laheri is the largest administrative center of Bhamragad Taluka in Gadchiroli. The two villages are separated by mountains in the dense forest of Dandakanya, one of the last areas of the Maoist insurgency in Maharashtra.

This year, as the Gadchiroli Police started working on opening police stations in the remotest corners of the district to combat Maoism, it zeroed in on Binagunda as one of the locations of nine police stations. For years, Maoism had taken root in the dense forests here. Infrastructure development has barely occurred in the hazardous terrain. When the police decided to open a police station, the biggest challenge was the lack of roads. Geographically, Gadchiroli is one of the largest districts in Maharashtra. Binagunda is located 220 kilometers from Gadchiroli city in Bhamragad district.