Chhattisgarh: CRPF battles Maoists amid poor conditions
Less potable water, high temperature increase fatigue.
New Delhi: CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh are not only fighting the outlawed Naxalites, but also coping with inherent impediments such as lack of potable water, high temperatures and poor mobile networks.
Officials, who visited some of the interior camps of the CRPF in Bastar region, where the force lost 25 personnel in an ambush last Monday, have found that quality of water is very inferior resulting in many of them falling sick.
“We take various steps to purify the drinking water. But that is not enough as when the boys go on patrolling they some time have to drink water from open sources which leads to illness,” an officer said.
The temperature in the Bastar region during summers goes up to 45 degrees Celsius and such hot and humid conditions make the security personnel tired soon, leading to frustration, officials said.
To boost the morale of the paramilitary personnel, nutritious food, including non-vegetarian variety, are being supplied to all camps.
The home ministry’s officials feel that there is an urgent need to improve the condition of CRPF camps as well as facilities offered to them.
“Camps of the CRPF need to be upgraded,” Senior Security Adviser in the Home Ministry K Vijay Kumar told PTI.
Poor mobile network also is a big hindrance for the CRPF men to be in touch with their family members back home and this lowers their morale.
CRPF personnel deplo-yed for long stints in the Naxal hotbed of Sukma in Chhattisgarh are sho-wing signs of fatigue too.
The home ministry officials, who visited Chhattisgarh after the massacre of 25 CRPF men, have found that majority of the 45,000 paramilitary personnel undertaking the high-risk anti-Naxalite operations in Bastar region have been posted there for over three years.
“Fatigue has been noticed in jawans as many of them have been posted in Sukma for last five years even though normally they should be there for three years,” an official said, adding that there is decline in motivation due to their long deployment in the area.