Lone family remains in village abandoned due to govt neglect

In the heart of Keonjhar district, a once-thriving village has faded into near oblivion, with only one family left behind as others fled years of administrative neglect.

- POST NEWS NETWORK

Tankagadia, a small village under Gedama panchayat in Hatadihi block, was home to around 10 to 12 families just 25 years ago. Today, it shelters only Krushna Chandra Das and his family. Das lives with his four sons — Dinabandhu, Jagabandhu, Krupasindhu and Sukanta—and their family members, the last residents of a place long abandoned by both its people and the government.

Residents had spent years appealing to local authorities for essential amenities such as a motorable road, clean drinking water and electricity. But repeated pleas were met with silence. Frustrated and left without hope, families of Subhash Jena, Yudhisthir Biswal, Krushna Biswal, Kunia Biswal, Bharat Biswal, Dharani Mohanty, and Babaji Das gradually moved away, settling in nearby Gedama and Mudulisahi.