In a remarkable story of survival against overwhelming odds, a government school teacher who vanished during a devastating landslide in Odisha’s Kandhamal district has been rescued alive after spending 14 harrowing days trapped in a forest ditch.
Mohan Maharana, who teaches at a school in the Indragarh panchayat of Raikia block, was discovered on Saturday near the landslide-ravaged village of Dangasi. Weakened by two weeks of starvation and exposure, Maharana managed to stay alive solely by drinking muddy rainwater that had pooled at the bottom of the ditch.
Following his rescue, local villagers constructed a makeshift stretcher and carried the frail teacher nearly 18 kilometres through rugged terrain to Raikia Hospital. Medical officials reported his condition as critical, citing severe malnourishment and complications from ingesting contaminated water.
A Night of Chaos
Maharana’s ordeal began on the night of October 29, when torrential rainfall triggered a massive landslide that obliterated Dangasi village. As the hillside gave way, terrified residents fled toward neighbouring Duba village to escape the debris.
Unaware of the impending collapse, Maharana was walking toward Dangasi when the disaster struck. Blinded by the pitch-black night and heavy downpour, he lost his footing and plunged into a deep ditch near the base of the hill.
With residents fleeing in the opposite direction, his initial shouts for help were drowned out by the storm. Drenched to the bone and exposed to the elements, Maharana lost his voice by the following day—leaving him unable to call out for rescue as dense forest foliage concealed him from view.
A Miracle Discovery
Once the storm cleared, Maharana’s frantic family launched an extensive search across the affected region. When their efforts yielded no clues, they filed a missing person report with the Raikia police, prompting an official search operation that ultimately hit a dead end. For two weeks, hope steadily faded.
The breakthrough came by pure chance on Saturday when a local cattle herder led his livestock near the edge of the landslide zone. Hearing a faint, raspy sound emerging from the earth, the herder investigated and spotted Maharana trapped inside the pit.
He immediately alerted nearby villagers, who rushed to the site, pulled the exhausted teacher from the ditch, and began the arduous 18-kilometre trek to get him urgent medical care.
