BSF, Odisha police establish company operating base at Jantri in Swabhiman area
The Hindu
The COB at Jantri in Swabhiman area in Odisha’s Malkangiri district marks the complete domination of security forces in the former bastion of the CPI (Maoist) rebels.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has established its company operating base (COB) at Jantri in Swabhiman area in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, marking the complete domination of security forces in the former bastion of the CPI (Maoist) rebels.
The setting up of the base at Jantri, which is at extreme end of Swabhiman Anchal and still not reachable by road in monsoon season, is said to be an important event in the history of anti-Maoist operation in Odisha and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Swabhiman Anchal, erstwhile Cut-Off area, had slipped into the hands of Maoist rebels due to its extreme remoteness, which was inflicted upon people by Balimela Dam project. The construction work of Balimela project was started in the then Koraput district in 1962-63 and competed in 1977.
Due to the project, the reservoir created a 62-km water channel cutting off 151 villages mainland of Odisha. While these villages could be accessed by boats in the water route from three sides, one had to cross an inhositable forest terrain from Andhra Pradesh side.
For over two years in 1970s, the water-locked villagers had struggled to reach the district headquarters. They were isolated from Odisha mainland and hence the name Cut-Off area. When the government provided steamers, the villagers came out of isolation.
Such was the domination of Maoists and remoteness of the Cut-off area that a bridge that was planned to connect 151 villages with the rest of Odisha by road route in 1980s did not materialise till 2018. The work on Gurupriya Bridge started in 2014 in full swing. The 910-metre bridge was constructed at a cost of over ₹187 crore ending six decades of isolation of 30,000 villagers.
Swabhiman Anchal used to be a liberated zone for extremists of CPI (Maoist), who were fiercely guarding against the entry of security forces into the region. The turning point in security situation came 11 years ago when the BSF was deployed in Malkangiri district – one of the worst affected Left Wing Extremists (LWE) district in India.
