Uttarakhand: Few voters, no jobs in abandoned hills

According to official data, 35,654 homes lie abandoned in Pauri Garhwal, next only to Almora with 36,401 homes. Pauri is home to NSA Ajit Doval, Army chief Bipin Rawat and R&AW chief Anil Dhasmana, the last two appointed recently. Another recent appointment from Garhwal region is of DGMO A K Bhatt, who belongs to Tehri Garhwal.

Doval’s village is Ghiri, one of Brahmin families, deep down in the valley and 29 km from district headquarters. A PMGSY road to the village is coming up but will take months to complete.

“Once it was a big village, quintals of rice was cooked for any feast. Now just around 100 voters are here,” said Dhruva Doval, describing himself as a relative of NSA Doval. In his late twenties, Dhruva is a priest and hence can sustain himself, a privilege only a few Brahmins enjoy. He lives in a house next to the NSA’s house, now abandoned. Dhruva’s wife Nirmala obtained a diploma in pharmacy four years ago, but “there is no work here”, she said.

In the last decade, more and more families have started sending children early to schools in the plains. “You won’t find children here,” Nirmala said. Successive governments have failed to bring schools to the hills. Also, Nirmala said, “farming has declined”.

Home to the country’s mightiest rivers, Uttarakhand does not have the means to supply water to its farmers. “Around 90 per cent of the farm area is rain-fed. Others use rainwater small pools,” said Tribhuvan Onial, a Pauri-based farmer and a former member of the zila panchayat. There have been debates how to harness the streams, build small dams and lift water to the height — but nothing has worked out.

Pauri offers the longest view of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand — many snow-clad peaks, running through several hundred km, beginning from Swargarohini, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Chaukhambha, Nanda Devi. But few tourists arrive in absence of facilities.

Srinagar, a town in the district, is an example in contrast. Its HNB Garhwal University got the status of a central university a few years ago, and it became an education hub. “People from other parts of Uttarakhand come to Srinagar to study. Reverse migration has been witnessed in Srinagar,” said Annapurna Nautiyal, dean of school of humanities and social science. However, she added, “people are migrating from the district for livelihood and education…. Officers do not want to visit (the hills).” Consequently, it is among those rare districts in the country whose population fell from 6.97 lakh (2001 census) to 6.86 lakh (2011).

The situation is not different in Tehri Garhwal, which has the home village, Khatwar, of DGMO Bhatt. Once a flourishing village, Khatwar now just has a two families, and is in ruins.

Holding fort in Ghiri is Manorma Doval Chamoli, 65. Her husband, an army man, died when she was 20. For 20 years she lived with her in-laws, then returned to his village of Ghiri. She gets his pension of Rs 8,372, an upgrade withheld as she apparently could not produce some papers.

She is too shy to say her husband’s name (Mitranand Chamoli) or let her photo be taken, and won’t leave the hill. “I have spent my life for him,” she said. Hands folded, she bowed before the gleaming Himalayas. “I am 65. When I leave, I will find him there.”