Cadres of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) have issued a call for a two-day economic blockade on June 26 and 27, across the country in their bastions. A similar call last year, on June 14 and 15 had a telling impact in their strongholds in the forests in parts of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.

The present call assumes significance, and could be of security concern, especially in the context of the current Maoist strategy of targeting or destroying infrastructure.

In what is being described as a Tactical Counter-Offensive Campaign (TCOC), the Maoists in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh set-off explosions destroying three high tension electric transmission towers on May 31 and two more on June 2. Effectively, six districts in Bastar plunged into darkness for a week; normal power distribution in the entire affected area was impaired for a complete fortnight. The blackout in Bastar badly affected functioning in hospitals, communication system and rail traffic, besides in iron ore mines.

National Mineral Development Corporation’s (NMDC) Bailadila mines – from where high quality iron ore is extracted for export and internal use – incurred a loss of Rs 9 crore per day. The resultant loss was nearly Rs 150 crore. Similarly, work in the privately owned Essar Steels, too, was hit resulting in a loss of Rs 1.5 crore per day, while iron ore supplies to Ispat and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant were hit.

That is not all. All industrial activities and an overwhelming part of commercial activities were severely affected, if not came to a grinding halt, in Bastar. However, the blackout generated “unexpected” business for somebody else: small-time generator operators made a fast buck by offering to re-charge cell phones, etc. But, someone did pay for it!

Their capacity
Clearly, the Maoists have proved that their destructive capacities can bring life to a near complete halt, and that they can hold six districts to ransom, at will, for a full fortnight. Also, on May 27, in Bastar, the Maoists blasted properties of Essar Steel, and damaged a railway bridge between Bacheli and Kirandul, and the railway track between Bhansi and Bacheli, causing huge revenue losses to the East Coast Railway. Besides, much as on several earlier occasions, on June 11, a few hundred Maoists attacked NMDC assets once again, this time in Bacheli, and destroyed 100 metres of conveyor belt that carries iron ore.

In Malkangari district, Orissa, the rebels made a failed attempt to blast a telecom tower on June 14. On May 30, in Visakhapatnam district’s Donkarayi area, Andhra Pradesh, they made another failed attempt to blow-up a power generation centre, causing minor damages.

Intentions
These repeated acts of targeting infrastructure speak of Maoist intentions: paralyse normal life, sabotage economic activity, dictate terms and allow life and economic activity on their “terms and conditions.”

Besides, during the June 2006 blockade a majority of the markets in Dantewara, Kanker, Bastar and Surguja districts in Chhattisgarh remained closed and vehicles kept off the road and life came to a near standstill in Orissa’s southern districts of Malkangiri, Gajapati and Rayagada. Trains were cancelled in Bihar and Jharkhand along the Barkakana-Barwadih section, Dhanbad rail division, while routes of long-distance trains running on this section were changed. Indeed, there have been no estimates of the total financial loss that such an economic blockade had caused.

Thus, in future, infrastructure and several proposed big industries are vulnerable to potential Maoist attacks. At stake is a proposed investment of Rs 2,639 billion in a slew of steel plants and power projects in Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

Also, many vital and economic installations and railway assets across the country are equally vulnerable. The threat assumes greater significance in the wake of the Maoists having established a continuous string of presence across the country along both the north-south and east-west axes. The Maoists have unambiguously articulated the limits to their violent campaign: the destruction of the Indian state. But, the government does not seem to have as yet set a limit to its inertia.

(The writer is a research fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.)