Context: Recently, a passenger bus service was started for the first time after India’s Independence in Swabhiman Anchal region (formerly known as the cut-off area) in Odisha’s Malkangiri district.
Key Points

• The bus service was able to start after the construction of the Gurupriya Bridge in 2018, which connected Swabhiman Anchal with the rest of the State.
• Until the bridge was constructed, the only modes of transportation with the Swabhiman Anchal region were motor launches or boats.
• People were even using horses to travel in the remote parts of Swabhiman Anchal.
• Recently, a new police station also started functioning in Jodambo (a gram panchayat in Swabhiman Anchal).

About Swabhiman Anchal 

• It is situated along the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, and had long been a stronghold of left-wing extremists.
• The region is covered by water from three sides and another side by inhospitable terrain.
• Balimela Reservoir is on the river Sileru also situated in the region.