New Delhi, Oct. 8: Village roads in the remote forests of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand will be laid with concrete to pave the way for a stronger fight against the Maoists.

The Centre has asked the rural development ministry to carry out the massive exercise that will offer the security forces easier and safer access to rebel strongholds.

Unlike kuchcha or tarred roads, concrete roads cannot be easily planted with landmines, which have taken a heavy toll of the security forces and activists of the civil anti-Maoist campaign, Salwa Judum.

The better accessibility will not only add teeth to flush-out operations but also help take development and economic benefits to the tribal hinterland. This, the government believes, will be bad news for the Maoists, who thrive in far-flung areas with marginalised populations.

“If you look at the map of Maoist dominance, it becomes clear that they hold sway in the forested tribal areas like Abuzhmarh and Dantewada that have no road connectivity and are cut off from the modern world. These are also the areas where the highest number of landmine blasts have taken place,” a senior home ministry official said.

The rural development ministry was already expected to build pucca roads to hamlets with 500 households or more under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana. Now the home ministry has asked it to cover villages with smaller populations — 100 or more households — in the Maoist hubs.

“The rural development ministry need not worry; the home ministry will provide the extra money needed from the security-related expenditure fund,” the official said.

Within the next three months, the rural development ministry is expected to draw up detailed maps with the help of the surface transport ministry and work out the number of roads that need to be laid again with concrete.

The security forces have come up with another innovative plan to patrol areas with dense undergrowth, which are ideal for planting landmines. They are using motorbikes and bicycles.

“More than 300 motorbikes and thousands of bicycles are being provided to the security personnel along with 6,000 light bullet-proof vests to make them feel secure against surprise guerrilla attacks. All this will mean a huge expenditure, but that will not be a constraint,” the official said.