Abandoned Tata Steel project gives double benefits to Bastar tribals

Those who vehemently protested pay the price

In the dead of night in February 2008, a police party stormed sleepy Takraguda village in Bastar district.  It was not an anti-insurgency operation for which the region was infamous globally; the security personnel were in action against the villagers opposing Tata Steel’s proposed project.

Hidmo Ram, the village sarpanch, along with a dozen villagers, was arrested and sent to jail. Takraguda, about 350 kms from here, was one of the 10 villages in Lohandiguda block of Bastar district that was identified for the 5.5 million tonne per annum green-field integrated steel plant. The steel major has inked a Memorandum