Since there are located on the inter-state border: Bhaskaran

In view of threat to the workers and machinery at the irrigation project sites in the district from the outlawed Maoists, the police are taking all precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incidents by deploying heavy security besides utilising the services of other means of collecting information about the movement of the Maoists.The State government is constructing Medigadda barrage, Annaram barrage and Kannepally pumphouse as a part of the prestigious Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme by investing thousands of crores of rupees.

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One more barrage at Tupakula gudem is also being constructed across of the Godavari  river to support the J Chokka Rao Devadula lift irrigation sceheme.Thousands of  labourers, engineers, technicians and others are executing work at these sites that are located in the most affected areas of the Maoists. These areas were even considered as the bastions for the Maoists in the past.There were several instances of damaging or torching the machinery of the roads by the Left Wing Extremists (LWE) and killing contractors in the adjoining Chhattisgar State.

Keeping these incidents in view, the police are keeping continuous vigil at the sites as well as the surrounding areas. Combing of the forests is a regular phenomenon in these parts of the district.As a part of this, two companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were already set up one each at Tupakulagudem and Medigadda barrages, two more companies one  each at Kannepallay pumphouse and Annaram barrage will also be set up soon.

“We have already identified the site for setting up the CRPF camps,” said a senior police official.While one company of the CRPF contains 135 men, each company is headed by an Assistant Commandant.On the other hand, the local police are also visiting the sites on regular basis  to take stock of situation.  Moreover, CCTV cameras, which were connected to ‘Jala Soudha’ (Engineer-in-Chief office) in Hyderabad, were also set up at the sites of the barrages for the continuous monitoring.

Speaking to Telanagana Today, Superintendent of Police (SP), R Bhaskaran,  said that they had beefed up the security at the projects following the directions from the State government.  “Since there are located on the inter-state border and in the Maoists affected areas, there is a need for tight security measures,” he added.