700 Villages Have Been Abandoned Due To Migration In Ghost Towns Of Uttarakhand: The migration from the undeveloped villages in Uttarakhand has seen a decline in the population in more than 700 of the 16,500 villages across Uttarakhand.
In the time period of merely seven years, 734 villages, especially the villages around the hills of Uttarakhand, have completely deserted, not a single soul living in them.
What Uttarakhand’s Rural Development and Migration Commission, SS Negi said on this-
SS Negi, the Vice President of Uttarakhand Rural Development and Migration Commission, in an interview with PTI, informed that the houses in such ghost villages are lying in ruins.
The scenario can commonly be seen in Pauri Garhwal district where 186 out of 298 villages have been totally unoccupied. And the fact is that – district of Pauri Garhwal is the worst hit by migration.
Villages like Thalda, Toli, Khaira, and Ghiri, across the district, have more left alone homes than occupied ones.
The locals of Thalda, a village in Pauri Garhwal district, told Scroll that they had about 52 houses and a population of 175 at a time. However, today, fewer than 30 families live in this area and the population has dropped down to less than 100.
The Ratio of living is very less
In the State, there are also a number of villages where the population ranges from 8 to 10, on the other hand, with some places it’s even as low to just 2 or 3 inhabitants.
No one lives here
The condition is so critical that Negi when he once toured the Nainidanda block of Pauri Garhwal district, came across a village where no one lived; except for a retired postmaster and his wife, he briefed Hindustan Times.
Men are almost invisible
In the same block, there are even villages where not a single male is in attendance because these men work outside.
If and only if a woman dies in the village, men from the nearby villages are called up to carry the support for burial on their shoulders and participate in the funeral.
Farming here comes in bygone days!
The major source of income for these villagers was used to be Farming. However, due to the shortage of irrigation facilities the unpredictable weather conditions which turned the lands barren at a bizarre rate. This made residents necessary to migrate in search of work.
Negi gave explanations for the reason behind heavy migration rates, he informed Hindustan Times,
The foremost factors behind the high rate of migration from villages of Uttarakhand include lack of income avenues, non-accessibility of quality education and quality health care.
The situation can be made better only with the arrival of better income avenues with a fresh force to ecotourism.
The shift from states like Bihar is temporary and occasional in nature. However, the exit of people from the defined regions of Uttrakhand villages is permanent in nature.
The big reason behind this is that while people from Bihar migrate to find labor work in non-rural areas on a temporary basis, those that shift to other places from Uttarakhand hills are often educated who take this step in search of better employment opportunities.
The natives who still live in these abandoned villages do so because they have no other place to live, there is little money to take such a step or nobody to live with.
They sort of stay away from the pension, money from relatives, or through the money, they make working as laborers in nearby towns.
The number of ghost villages In Uttarakhand is only going to increase in figures without proper steps from the state government.