Assam village where just one family lives

A village in Assam's Nalbari district, which had the road leading to it inaugurated by a former chief minister many years ago, is now almost deserted barring a single family.

From being a prosperous village in the last century to just 16 people in the 2011 census, No 2 Bardhanara village currently has a single family with five members, due to lack of a proper road.

Bimal Deka, his wife Anima and their three children — Naren, Dipali and Seuti — are the only dwellers of this village in Ghograpara circle, around 12 km from the headquarters town Nalbari.

"We have to travel 2 km through water and muddy paths to reach the nearest motorable road to attend our school and college. During monsoons, we commute through a country boat," Dipali said.

Anima rows the boat to ferry her children back and forth, but despite such tough conditions, the family has ensured proper education for all three.

While Dipali and Naren are graduates, Seuti is doing her higher secondary.

With no electricity, the children study under the light of kerosene lamps. The boat becomes the sole mode of transportation for the family when it rains as all the paths within the village get submerged.

The condition of this revenue village spread across 162 hectares was not so pathetic till a few decades ago, people of nearby areas claimed.

Known for high agricultural yield, former chief minister Bishnuram Medhi had visited No 2 Bardhanara a few decades ago to inaugurate a road leading to the village.

Anima said the apathy of local authorities has worsened the condition, which led villagers to abandon it.

"Local agencies like the Zilla parishad, gaon panchayat or the block development office are not interested in carrying out any work here," she claimed, adding agriculture and animal rearing is their mainstay.

With an NGO, Gramya Vikash Mancha, recently setting up an agricultural farm in the village, the family now gets to interact with other people more often.

Farm's chairman Prithi Bhusan Deka said the village was once prosperous, but recurring floods have deserted it.

"If the government constructs a road and provides basic amenities, the agricultural potential can again be realised and people will return to the village," he added.