Arpita Chakrabarty

Sharmila Joshi

Editor

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Sukhmati Devi’s legs sometimes tremble nowadays. Climbing up and down
mountainous terrain has taken a toll. For decades, Sukhmati, a 65-year-old
farmer, has trudged more than 70 kilometres up to Kuti, her high-altitude village at around 3,600 metres. She lives in
Kuti from May to November. When snow covers the village, she climbs down 70
kilometres to Dharchula town, at 900 metres.At times, she uses a horse when the ascent is
so steep that it can take hours to climb three-and-a-half kilometres. But that option
is difficult now, because parts of the walking route have disappeared under the
rocks and debris that come down with the rains. The residents of the villages
here say this happens when the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is
constructing a road to Lipulekh
Pass, blasts the mountains with dynamite.  So Sukhmati’s annual trek to Kuti has become even harder, scrambling
over the debris and rubble. The route includes treacherous narrow climbs
criss-crossed by the rivers Kali
and Kuti-Yangti. “I hope one day I can travel to my village by
car,” she had told me when we walked 70 kilometres to Kuti in May 2017. It took
us five days to reach her village of 363 people in the Himalayan Vyas valley.






























Sukhmati Devi (cover photo on top) is one of the 2,059 residents – all from the Bhotia community, a Scheduled Tribe – in seven
villages close to the India-China border for whom the road is a big election
issue for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It has been one of their main concerns
during every election, state or general, for many years. These villages will vote on April
11.

Besides Kuti, the mule route –
now slowly being replaced by a road – is the lifeline for Bundi, Garbyang, Gunji, Napalachchu,
Raung Kong and Navi villages, all in Dharchula block in
Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. The villagers use the route to
migrate seasonally, and to transport all items for their basic needs from
Dharchula town. The route is critical
for the posts of the Indian army too. From the nearest roadhead at Najang, it
can take two days to reach Bundi village, 16 kilometres away, while going to
Kuti takes 5-6 days.Traders and their ponies also travel on this route to cross over to
China for the annual border trade from June to October, carrying coffee, dry
fruits, textiles, grains and other goods, in exchange for woollen clothes, carpets
and other items. More than 1,000
Indian pilgrims also use this route every year from June to
September to cross over to China for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage.The seven villages of the Dharchula Assembly constituency are part of
the state’s only Scheduled Caste seat of Almora (which became an SC seat in
2009) for the Lok Sabha elections. The seat comprises 14 assembly
constituencies in four districts – Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh, with 12.54 lakh registered voters in 2014. Bachi Singh Rawat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held the seat for
four terms from 1996 to 2009. Then Pradeep Tamta of the Congress won from here in
2009.


































In the 2014 general election, it was a close
battle between these two parties in Dharchula. Pradeep Tamta got 2,520 more votes in Dharchula
than the BJP&#39;s Ajay Tamta. However, Ajay Tamta, the Minister of State for
Textiles, won the constituency, overall. (The Tamtas were traditionally coppersmiths, a
SC).  The two will be the main
opponents again for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Both candidates live in the lower Kumaon region – Ajay Tamta in Almora
town, and Pradeep Tamta in Haldwani
town of Nainital district (he is originally from Bageshwar district).
These are located around 200 kilometres from Dharchula. From this distance,
they are unable to hear what the people in the high-altitude villages are
saying.

Work on the 95-kilometre motorable road began in 2003. When complete,
it will go from Tawaghat (not far from Dharchula town) to Lipulekh Pass and
connect the last security post on the India-China border in Vyas valley.

The first deadline for completion was 2008. The work was humongous,
including cutting gigantic rocks, and the date of completion was postponed to 2012,
then 2016 and 2018. The official proposed completion date is now 2022. The Comptroller and Auditor General has reportedly flagged the slow
progress of roads built along the India-China border in its 2017
audit report, criticising the poor construction and huge costs.

So far, only 23 kilometres of the stretch from
Tawaghat to Lakhanpur is a concrete road.
The 2.5 kilometres from Lakhanpur to Najang has only recently been levelled into a dirt road. From
Najang to Chiyalekh, a
distance of 20 kilometres, construction is in process. The mountains need to be
cut. From Chiyalekh to Kuti, the mountains have been cut, the land has been
levelled, allowing BRO trucks to ply. Another five kilometres remains pending
from Lipulekh Pass
towards Navi Dang. (These details have been verified from the sub-divisional magistrate&#39;s office in Dharchula.)

Although BRO trucks now ply on the levelled portions of the road, people stagger along the rest of the route between Dharchula and their
villages. Jiwan Singh Ronkaly, a 75-year-old border trader from Raung Kong
village, who sells jaggery and coffee,
among other items,  makes this difficult
journey with his goods five times a year. “I have lost countless ponies along
with my goods,” he says. “They [the BRO] blast the rocks with dynamite; it
breaks the boulders in such a way that all our walking routes disappear under
the debris. And with the rains everything washes away.”The villagers are then forced to climb boulders and cross streams with
strong currents by holding ropes and walking on tree logs. “But the government
doesn’t care for us,” Ronkaly adds, angrily. 
“And I am now worried how I’ll carry my goods because [with further
dynamiting] the route might be completely broken in the 2019 season.”


























People of the villages along this route say they
will vote for the party that will complete this road. They are sceptical if any
government is capable of completing a project of this scale. “The speed and performance of the BRO has not
met our expectations. Whichever party is there, the government has proved to be
inefficient,” says Laxman Singh Kutiyal, 50, who runs a homestay for pilgrims
in Kuti village.

Many of the villagers here say no political party is different, but point
out that the present BJP government refused to support them during a disaster. In
August 2017, nine people died and 18 went missing (including six army jawans) after a landslide hit at
two different places on the route.“We requested the district administration to arrange for helicopters [during
that time] for senior citizens who could not walk along the dangerous route. We
were stuck in Gunji village, about 50 kilometres from the roadhead. But
helicopters flew in for Kailash Manasrovar yatris, not for villagers. When elections
come, the political parties send greetings to even dogs, but forget all our woes
when they are elected,” says Ronkaly. He adds that he suffered a loss of Rs. 5
lakhs when the landslide took away his ponies along with his goods. The
government hasn’t reimbursed his losses. 
























This was not a one-time incident. In October
2018, when villagers were returning to their winter homes in Dharchula, the
rains destroyed large tracts of the mule route. The government again turned
down their request for a helicopter service. “We had to travel to Dharchula
through Nepal [crossing over the Kali river], walk for about 20 kilometres more
than when we travel through India [and circle back to India],” says Diwan Singh
Kutiyal, a retired government employee and resident of Kuti village.

In addition to the road, the villagers are angry that the BJP government
has reduced their allotment of rice under the public distribution scheme (PDS).
The high-altitude villages don’t grow rice and wheat, and depend on the monthly
rations that are brought to a government storage facility in Gunji village. But
since November 2017, each family has been getting only 2.5 kilos of rice a
month instead of 10 kilos (though the five kilos of wheat per moth remains
unchanged). The rest of the subsidy – all of Rs. 75 – is credited as ‘direct
benefit transfer’ to the bank accounts of the ration card owner. But, says Diwan
Singh, he hasn’t received any cash transfer since this scheme started. “In the plains
there’s a shop in every neighbourhood. In our villages, there is no such thing.
Moreover, even if we get the cash, what will we do with it if there’s no food
to buy?” he asks.During natural disasters, all supplies to the villages stop, including
PDS rations. In October 2018, when the mule route was blocked and rations did
not reach the villages, the villagers transported Chinese grains through Nepal.Often, the price of an item, by the time it reaches Kuti, increases threefold
due to the transportation costs. “One litre of cooking oil costs Rs. 200 in the
upper altitude villages. However, during times of natural disaster, when the
road is blocked even for the mules to transport items, the price increases by
five times. A packet of salt can cost Rs. 100. Which government will take care
of these needs?” asks Diwan Singh.




























The residents of Vyas valley hope that a
Congress government will be better. But they are not optimistic, considering
past records. “The Congress will perhaps at least increase the ration quota and
offer us a helicopter service during natural disasters, if not anything else,”
says Ronkaly. “We are closer to China and Nepal than Delhi in terms of distance.
Our voices don’t reach the country’s capital. Often, China and Nepal have
helped us with food, telephone facilities and work. If our own government
denies us our basic rights, we have nothing else to say.”

Himalayan poll issue: my way not the highway

হিমালয়ের নির্বাচনী প্রসঙ্গ: রাজপথ আমার পথ নয়

হিমালয়ৰ নিৰ্বাচনী ইচ্ছ্যুঃ আমাক ৰাজপথ নহয় ৰাস্তা লাগে

हिमालयात निवडणुकीचा मुद्दाः माझा रस्ता, नको हमरस्ता

ہمالیہ کا انتخابی ایشو: مجھے راستہ چاہیے، شاہراہ نہیں

पहाड़ों का चुनावी मुद्दा: राजमार्ग नहीं, रास्ते की चाह

இமாலயத்தின் தேர்தல் பிரச்சனை: கனவு நெடுஞ்சாலைகள்

ହିମାଳୟର ନିର୍ବାଚନୀ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ: ମୋ ପଥ ନୁହେଁ ରାଜପଥ

Kuti

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Himalayan poll issue: my way not the highway

People in high-altitude villages of Uttarakhand, who walk miles across mule routes on steep mountains, ask which political party will complete the long-pending road here if they vote it into power on April 11

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