Indian govt: 40,000 sq km under Naxal control

[Saorsa]

40,000 sq km under Naxal control, govt tells Par panel
PTI, Sep 16, 2009, 08.24pm IST


NEW DELHI: Left wing extremists are calling the shots in 40,000 sq kilometre area in Naxal affected states where the government has no control, a Parliamentary panel was informed on Wednesday.

Home secretary G K Pillai told the first meeting of Parliament's Standing Committee on Home Affairs that the problem of Maoists was growing rapidly and needed urgent action.

At the three-hour meeting the panel, headed by BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, was briefed by the ministry officials about the overall internal security situation with particular focus on the Naxal menace.

Home minister P Chidambaram has said Naxalism has spread to 20 states across the country with over 2,000 police station areas in 223 districts partially or substantially affected.

The meeting of the Parliamentary panel came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Left wing extremism as the gravest internal security threat and called for a nuanced strategy to tackle the problem.

"We have not achieved as much success as we would have liked in containing it. It is a matter of concern that despite our efforts, the level of violence in the affected states continues to rise," he had told a conference here of all state police chiefs.


Read more: 40,000 sq km under Naxal control, govt tells Par panel - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/40000-sq-km-under-Naxal-control-govt-tells-Par-panel/articleshow/5019404.cms#ixzz1118JrWqi

[Barry Lyndon]

Hey, wait, this is from 2009. It's probably shrunk since operation Green Hunt.

[RED DAVE]

To put this in geographical perspective, this area is about the size of Kentucky or Iceland or about 3.2% of the land area of India (about 1,270,000 sq mi). Or about 1.5 times the size of the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

RED DAVE

[scarletghoul]

Right, it's a small portion of India, but we must remember this is only the area where they have/had complete control (as the article says "the government has no control". The areas under maoist and government influence and 'guerilla zones' together make up about a third of Indian territory.

But yes, this was a year ago. The figure will no doubt be very different with the big government offensive.

edit: oh hey look at this http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Govt-regains-control-over-10k-sq-km-areas-dominated-by-Naxals/688325

Posted: Sun Sep 26 2010, 15:59 hrs New Delhi:
Making inroads into the Naxal belt, security forces have regained control over more than 10,000 sq km areas dominated by the Maoists in six worst-affected states.
Official sources described the success of the security forces as "very significant" as nearly 40,000 sq km areas had been controlled by the red ultras in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal for last several years.
"We have got maximum gain in Chhattisgarh. We hope that the success will continue in the coming days," a source said.
More than 60,000 central paramilitary forces have been assisting the state police forces in their fight against the Maoists.
The success of the forces in last few months was largely attributed to the joint coordinated efforts of the police forces of the states as well as the Centre and better intelligence networks.

Naxal violence has claimed the lives of over 10,000 civilians and security personnel in the last five years. Out of a total of 10,268 casualties between 2005 and May 2010, 2,372 deaths have been reported in 2009 as against 1,769 in 2008 and 1,737 in 2007.
Besides, Naxals targeted 362 telephone towers, many school buildings, roads, culverts in 2009 alone.
The ultras have killed at least 100 policemen in Chhattisgarh since April. Their hand is also suspected behind the derailment of an Express train in West Bengal that claimed the lives of nearly 150 people.
Government has been maintaining that accelerated development and calibrated police action are the two pillars of its anti-Naxal policy.the government has managed to penetrate a quarter of Naxal territory. The article doesn't say to what extent they have regained control (whether its near complete control or just some presence).

"Enemy advances, we retreat" innit. But apparently the press, and probably the government, doesn't realise this and think that this is a complete victory over the Naxals in that territory... I would guess that they're in for a surprise.

[L.A.P.]

Hey, wait, this is from 2009. It's probably shrunk since operation Green Hunt.
It actually has increased to 92,000.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

It actually has increased to 92,000.

Can I get a source for this?

[Saorsa]

The Red Corridor, where Maoists are heavily active and the state is weakest, is 92,000 square km in size. But the Maoists don't have absolute control in all of that by any means.

[RED DAVE]

Comrades, my bad. I was figuring in square miles, not square kilometers. :crying:

40,000 sq km is about 15,444 square miles or an area about 154.44 miles x 100 miles. This is an area slightly smaller than Denmark (16,629 sq mi) or about 25% larger than the US State of Maryland (12,407 sq miles).

RED DAVE

[pranabjyoti]

Whatsoever, the influence of a guerrilla party can not be properly measured by this way. Not all the people in those area are their supporters and they have more supporters in the areas which isn't "under their control" at present.