‘Paradise’ that suffers under Maoist threat

Kanchan Siddiqui The Statesman
Publication Date : 26-03-2010
MUKUTMONIPUR, March 26: Unabated threat by the Left wing ultras along with the changing climate have brought trouble for Bengal’s paradise, Mukutmonipur.
The continued Maoist menace since about a decade back has made people so regressive that the place is facing an acute dearth of tourists, even during the winter season.
This apart, migratory birds have stopped flocking to Mukutmonipur, considered to be an attraction for the reason during the winter season, due to the sudden change in climatic conditions as a result of global warming. Siberian birds used to flock to the vastly stretched congenial dam water along the confluence of the Kansavati, the Kumari and the Shilavati rivers.
This year, according to Mr K Devial, DFO, Bankura (South): “The late winter arrival has possibly resulted in such less inflow of migratory birds. Some flocks of ducks however have arrived and are seen swimming across the dam water but they are less in number compared to the previous years.”
The stagnant water of the 440 feet deep reservoir look like a large blue tinted glass mirror reflecting the vast expanse of sky over it. The view of the sunset with the lake on the four ground is one of the attractions of the place.
The experience of the moonlit night around the reservoir makes Mukutmonipur a perfect place to be for tourists.The Mukutmonipur-Jhilimili circuit that is getting polluted due to the reckless and increasingly perturbed behaviour by the tourists.
The local administration with the help of the panchayat had to chalk a plan to impose certain restrictions to check this menace. Every year Mukutmonipur and Jhilimili sites used to record more than a lakh revelers. The second biggest dam of India is located 55 km away from Bankura district town. The place is famous for its natural bounty.
The undulating terrain along the southern edge of the Kansavati water reservoir is another attraction. The continued Maoist menace in the villages falling under Ranibandh and Barikul police station, have triggered panic among the tourists.
Mr Chandan Mahato, a vendor of terracotta craftworks in the area said: “Tourists are afraid to come to this place and people hardly come for picnics here since the last five years.” Mr Rajat Ghosh, a boatman said: “The unabated politics has left people like us to suffer.”
In the last nine years, maoists have allegedly killed eleven persons in Barikul and Ranibandh police station areas. The Hijli jungle corridor beside the Jhilimili stretch is believed to be the den of Maoists. The Maoist cadres from the Lalgarh squad as well from Jharkhand use to camp in Hijli corridor prior to any of their operations. In the last week of December, Maoists allegedly killed two CPI-M leaders leaving the locals panic-struck.
Police, however, have failed to lend any solution to the menace. Mr Vishal Garg, SP, Bankura admitted: “The forces use to patrol in the area but the situation could not be brought under control. ”