Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday described the law and order situation in the state last year as peaceful even as he raised concern over Left-wing extremism which he said was still a "sensitive" issue in five districts.
"The LWE situation remains sensitive in the districts like Malkangiri, Koraput, Nuapada, Kalahandi and Bolangir," Patnaik said during the debate relating to expenditure of home department.
The House passed the demands of both home and general administration departments held by Patnaik amidst din when the opposition Congress and BJP members were agitating in well of the House demanding roll back of electricity tariff announced by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission on Monday.
While admitting that Maoists situation remained sensitive in five tribal dominated districts, Patnaik however claimed that the intensity of Moist activity is on decline now and there was perceptible improvement in the situation in the districts like Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Sundergarh and Nayagarh during the year.
Claiming that the pro-active action taken by security forces resulted in arrest of 71 LEW Maoists including the most-wanted Sabyasachi Panda, leader of Odisha Maobadi Party, and Tella Anil Kumar, state committee member of Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee, Patnaik pointed out that the police had recovered a record number of 143 weapons including 34 quality weapons in 2014.
Besides, Patnaik said, 99 LEW cadres and arms militants surrendered in the state during the 2014 including Nachika Linga (leader of Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha).
Stating that connectivity plays an important role in restricting LWE activities, the chief minister said significant steps had been taken for construction and improvement of roads and bridges in these areas. Further, to extend mobile connectivity to the general public in the LWE affected areas, steps were being taken to install 253 mobile towers, he said.
As Odisha has a long coast line of about 480 km, Patnaik
said 18 marine police stations had been made functional in order to keep a vigil on the coastal security.
"Joint coastal security exercises are being carried out with West Bengal to improve coordination between police, coast guard and Indian Navy and to achieve seamless operation at the time of need. A similar kind of exercise will be jointly conducted with Andhra Pradesh," Patnaik said.
Referring to the ensuing Nabakalebar Festival of Lord Jagannath, Patnaik said steps were being taken to provide service and amenities on a large scale to lakhs of devotees visiting Puri during the festival.
While 263 fire stations were already in operation in the state, Patnaik announced opening of 72 new fire stations in Odisha.
On the measures being taken by home department, he said the Odisha Industrial Security Force Recruitment Rules had been notified and steps would be taken to raise the force very soon.
He said the Crime and Criminal Tracking Networking and System (CCTNS) is under the advance stage of implementation. The CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system at police station level to create nationwide network infrastructure.
