Sunday, March 6 2005 13:59 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Raipur: India may well be on its way to joining the league of developed nations, but right in its heart lies an expanse of land about which the Government has little information.

Even 58 years after Independence, nearly 7,000 sq km of thickly forested land in Chattisgarh remain uncharted.

The area, in the tribal Bastar region, has a fitting local name 'Aboojmand', literally meaning 'that which cannot be understood'.

But with naxalites increasingly making use of 'Aboojmand' as a launch pad for their activities, the Chattisgarh Government has finally woken up to the need to "understand" the area.

"We have asked the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) in Hyderabad to carry out a detailed survey of the area," said Chief Minister Raman Singh.

The project, which will use remote sensing and aerial photography, is expected to cost Rs 5.5 crore. Half of this amount will be borne by the Central Government and the results are likely to come in within a few months.

Once they do, the efforts of security forces to control naxal activities will get a major boost.