Odisha: Elderly Man Survives 2 Months in Culvert Pipe, Rescued

Bhubaneswar: In a remarkable tale of survival, a 60-year-old man from Odisha has been found alive inside a box culvert pipe, where he reportedly lived for nearly two months. The discovery, made in the Tensa locality of Sundargarh district, has left locals and authorities stunned.

John Kandulana, a resident of Takara Rengalbedha village under Lahunipada Police limits, had been missing for two months. His family’s desperate search efforts had yielded no clues until local youths alerted authorities about an unusual presence near the dilapidated culvert in a secluded area.

The box culvert, long considered unfit for habitation, became an unlikely refuge for Kandulana. Details of how he survived in the inhospitable environment remain unclear, sparking curiosity and raising questions about resilience in the face of extreme adversity.

“When I first heard about someone using the abandoned culvert as a hideout, I assumed it might be an anti-social element or a thief,” said Sudarshan Dehury, the in-charge of the Tensa police outpost.

“After verifying his identity, I discovered he was a local man. How he managed to sustain himself there remains a mystery,” he added.

Locals expressed both relief and amazement at Kandulana’s survival. “It is hard to imagine how he endured without basic necessities like food and water,” said one resident. After being identified, kind-hearted youths provided him with winter clothing and reunited him with his family.

The family, overwhelmed with emotion, described their frantic efforts to locate him. “We searched everywhere we could think of, but it seemed as if he had disappeared without a trace,” a relative recounted.

Authorities have launched an investigation to uncover how Kandulana managed to survive for two months in such conditions.