Exodus from Uttarakhand’s China border region

Amid reports of heightened Chinese troop activity across the Uttarakhand border with China, what is of much bigger concern is the silent exodus taking place from the upper reaches of the Uttarakhand border with China — a high-altitude rugged stretch with scarce development — with entire populations shifting to lower altitudes in search of livelihood and employment.

“This is a very big issue and I have been trying to focus on and tackle this issue of border depopulation for years. The drastic thinning of the population from the India-China border is a very big security worry. Border populations are the eyes and ears and are the first line of defence for the country. That is weakening fast,” Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat told this newspaper.

Mr Rawat said he brought up the issue of border development to address the border thinning problem during his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh last week.

Uttarakhand shares a 345-km border with China, the other Indian states being Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km), Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (260 km) and Sikkim (198 km). The thinning of populations is most acute in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. Acco-rding to the 2011 census data, Uttarakhand’s three districts bordering China —Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh — had decadal population growth rates of 11.7 per cent, 5.6 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively, much lower than the state decadal growth of 19.17 per cent. On the other hand, the lower-altitude districts of Uddham Singh Nagar, Hardwar and Dehradun registered growth rates of 33.4 per cent, 33.2 per cent and 32.5 per cent, respectively.

The 2011 census data from Uttarakhand is strongly suggestive of movement of people from the border areas to urban centres in the state. “Bhotiyas, the principal inhabitants of the Chinese border area, were traditionally traders and relatively rich and educated. Since they come under the OBC category, they took full advantage of the reservation policy. They are now in various services pertaining to administration, health, education, development, etc. This resulted in rapid abandonment of border villages. Many of them are so disconnected that they cannot identify their village houses. It is a kind of pull migration,” said Prof. S.P. Singh, former Garhwal University vice-chancellor and an eminent expert on the Himalayas. Until recently, India had followed a policy of not developing its borders with China to create a buffer area, leading to lack of employment opportunities in this region. “There are so many villages and localities that are completely abandoned. For example, Milan village of Pithoragarh — famous for wood carvings on houses — is largely abandoned. It is a phenomenon very common in Darma, Vyas and Johar valleys. These areas are easily accessible from the Chinese side, while it take several days to reach them from the Indian side,” added Prof. Singh. Another expert, Prof. G.S. Negi, has found that many villages in the area, like Tak, Gonia, Semal, Kalsaniya and Poth, etc., which are adjacent to the Nepal border, resemble ghost towns now. “The migrating people have a strong martial tradition, with most of them joining the armed forces. We want people like them in the mountains, it is crucial from the security point of view,” said. Prof. Singh.