Water crisis for CRPF, Jharkhand Jaguar in next few months on 'Burha Pahar' naxal bastion

By Rajnish Singh Water scarcity would be a major challenge for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Jharkhand Jaguar police in the next two-three months on 'Burha Pahar' naxal bastion- a 55 square km hilly range which was captured by the forces in September this year for the first time in 32 decades.

The sole source of water for these armed forces is a small waterfall trickling down the mountains near their camp on the 'Burha Pahar' hilltop adjacent to Burha village in the Garhwa district of Jharkhand. The personnel of 172 Battalion of the CRPF-- one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs--has arranged a PVC water pipe to route the water trickling down the mountains into a 1,000-litre plastic tank. The stored water is then moved by using a water pump through another pipe to the camps set by the CRPF and the Jharkhand Jaguar around 50 metres away from there at a height of almost 20 feet.

Asked about the water issue on 'Burha Pahar' in the coming months, Commandant 172 Battalion CRPF Garhwa Ashish Kumar Jha told ANI: "All needs of the CRPF company at 'Burha Pahar' are being fulfilled as per necessity. We are committed to ensuring all facilities to jawans there. The water issue is not at a level which cannot be resolved. The matter is under discussion and a permanent water solution will be resolved soon. We are planning for digging a borewell to fetch water to the top of the hill." Jha said that 'Burha Pahar' has always been a challenge and it has been under the dominance of Naxals. "Top cadres of Naxals used to live on Burha Pahar. It was a free zone of Naxals. But a continuous effort, a well-planned strategy, high morale of our jawans and a joint effort of intelligence agencies and local administration led us to achieve such a big success."

The 'Burha Pahar', a densely forested heavily mined area in the Garhwa district, was among the stronghold of Naxals once. Other areas near the hilly region, which is out of reach from basic facilities like road and electricity, are Kulhi, Hesatu, Behratoli, Pundag, Navatoli and Tisia. These areas were cleaned under phase one of 'Operation Octopus' launched in October this year. On September 4 this year, the second phase of 'Operation Octopus' was launched and 'Burha Pahar' was captured in a four-day and three-night task involving CRPF's 203 CoBRA Batallion, 205 CoBRA Batallion, its regular ground duty Battalions (172, 218 and 62), and Jharkhand police's specialised unit Jharkhand Jaguar. These forces are still engaged in finding out Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and land mines are hidden on the ''Burha Pahar' under the ongoing 'Operation Octopus'.

Jharkhand's Garhwa district is among 16 districts of the state including Bokaro, Chatra, Dhanbad, East Singhbhum, Giridih, Gumla, Dumka, Hazaribagh, Khunti, Latehar, Lohardaga, Palamu, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Saraikela-Kharaswan and West Singhbhum which are affected by Naxalism or Left Wing Extremism (LEW). Of the 16, eight are highly Naxal affected while other eight are less affected. There are a total of 24 districts in Jharkhand in which eight have been completely freed from the Naxals.