Out of 16,500 villages, 700 are swiped off in the name of Migration, in Uttarakhand. Like WOW! And those around the hills and all this happened in just seven years. The whole place is a complete desert without any single soul on it.
In an interview, the Vice President of Uttarakhand Rural Development and Migration Commission, S.S Negi, informed that houses in such ghost villages lie in ruins.
These can commonly be seen in Pauri Garhwal district one of the worst hits by migration took place.
186 out of 298 villages have been totally depopulated.
Thalda, a village in the Pauri Garhwal district, informed Scroll that they once had around 52 houses and a population of 175. However, today, less than 30 families remain in the area and the population has shrunk to lower than 100.
The situation is so bad when Negi 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 informed HT.
It is so hard to stay away from kids and husbands or any other family member and just imagine there are villages in the same block where not a single male can be found as all of them work outside.
The main cause of such commotion of migration is lack of revenue source there is no proper income source for them to stay in that place. And only that problem or issues like, non-accessibility of quality education and quality health care.
The situation can be improved only through the creation of better income avenues with a fresh impetus to ecotourism.
Migration from states like Bihar is temporary and seasonal in nature. However, the outflux of people from the villages of Uttarakhand is permanent in nature.
It is sad to know that those who migrate from Uttarakhand hills are often educated who do so in search of better employment opportunities.
Abut those who choose to stay in these deserted villages because they have nowhere else to go, very little money to take such a step, or nobody to live with. They live off of pension, money from relatives, or through the money, they make working as labourers in nearby towns.
