Bastar suffers as Naxal terror reigns

An internationally acclaimed botanist classified all the medicinal plant areas in the world into seven parts and exhorted that there was no area left across the globe that could be identified as the eighth.

Later, director of the Eastern State Agency H K Muni visited Bastar and conducted extensive campaign in the Bailadilla reserve forests between 1938 and 1943.

To his surprise, Muni found rare varieties of medical plant in Bailadilla "" a part of the Naxal hotbed of Dantewada district. He was later awarded a PhD for documenting the eighth area of the medicinal plants.

With a high probability of the area containing and undocumented species, much of the forests still remain unexplored following the Left radical group turning the pocket into a "war zone".

The Dantewada district lies on the Gondwana bio-diversity zone, which mostly comprises tropical forests. According to local botanists, the region contains very rare varieties of medicinal plant that have been classified as being "on the verge of extinction" and can cure major diseases.

But despite all distinctions and vast potential for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Dantewada remains the last destination for investors. Interestingly, it is not the Naxals, but only their shadow that prevents the SMEs to explore the rich potential in the tribal predominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh state.

The Naxals have never publicly opposed SMEs, for, they believe it would be in the larger interest of the tribals to earn more in value addition of the forest products on which the local people are dependent, a senior police official said.

While the rebels have announced that they would oppose Tata and Essar "" both the companies propose to set up mega steel plants in the region "" it is the SMEs who are feeling the heat.

"There is a huge potential for the SMEs in forest produce, herbal and medicinal plant sectors in Bastar. But no entrepreneur is interested to invest here due to Naxal menace and their terror," general secretary of Nav Bastar Kalyan Samiti, K Vasudevan said.

The timber-wood Sal, Teak and Bamboo produced in Bastar could be matched to international standards. The main minor forest produces are Tamarind (tamarindus indica), Mahuwa (mahua indica), and Kosa (cocoons). But lack of small industries and processing centres has kept this bounty under wrap.

Following SMEs keeping a distance, the forest produce in Naxal hit areas remain unused. The situation in the interior areas is so alarming that neither the forest department employees dare to cut the trees for its depots nor are the tribals moving into forest to collect forest produce.

SMEs are a far issue, a small jaggery unit in Sukma "" the worst Naxal hit block "" was also wound up two years ago. The cottage and tourism industries have no sign despite the enchanting beauty of Bastar having the potential to drive in foreign tourists. Following which, there is no buyer for the handicrafts shaped by the tribals from bamboo and bell metal.

The state government is aware that propelling any industrialist to come up with an investment in Bastar is not going to be a smooth ride.

This is the reason why the government has planned to set up a herbal medical park in about 100 hectare of land in Dhamtari district "" about 400 km from Dantewada "" to trap the rich potential of non-wood forest products (NWFP) that include herbal-medicinal plant.

"Since Dhamtari "" about 80 km from here "" is a transit point, the park will come up there with an investment of Rs 61 crore in the first phase," additional chief secretary, P Joy Oommen explained.

The park will have 500 units with common facilities including training center and industrial infrastructures like quality control laboratory, research and development units, ware housing etc, he added.

"You just cannot force any entrepreneur to invest in Bastar and some solution has to be traced out. However, the process of developing the park is in its final stages and it will make a difference in promoting SMEs in the state," Oommen said.

In an interview earlier, Chhattisgarh chief minister Dr Raman Singh has also admitted that no industrialist is interested to put up a plant in Bastar region. "It is the government who is convincing the industries to come up with the investment (in the Naxal hotbed)," Dr Singh has said.

The situation is, by and large, the same in the Naxal-hit Sarguja region. With rich minerals and a huge potential for food processing SMEs, the region remains tucked away undeveloped.

The future of SMEs in the two major regions "" both accounting for a major share of minerals, forest produces, herbal and medicinal plants "" is bleak as long as the process of industrialisation does not occur.