Prem Punetha  

For around 400 families living in the Byas valley of Dharchula, one of the remotest parts of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, China is fulfilling their daily needs more than the Indian government is able to.

As many as seven villages in the valley — Bundi, Gunji, Garbyang, Kuti, Napalchu, Nabhi and Ronkong— are forced to procure basic necessities like salt, cooking oil, rice and wheat produced in China which is reaching them via Nepal. The main reason for this, villagers say, is because the rations supplied by the state government are often not able to reach them on time as the access road to the valley has been blocked for several months near the Lipulekh pass which connects these villages to the rest of the district.

“The nearest marketplace is in Dharchula, which is over 50 km away. Because the route is blocked nowadays, we are not able to get our government ration on time as it takes a massive effort to transport items on mules and porters,” said AshokNabiyal, a resident of Nabhi village.

The supplies, even if they do reach, are not sufficient for the 400-odd families. “The government provides only 2 kilo rice and 5 kilo wheat per family under the public distribution system . We are often forced to purchase daily goods from Tinkar and Changru villages of Nepal, whose residents source these items fromChina,” Nabiyal said.

According to the villagers, the Chinese goods that they are procuring from the Nepalese villages are “less expensive than those that they get at the marketplace in Dharchula.” “The transportation cost in bringing goods from Dharchula to our villages is substantial. Even a packet of salt which is for Rs 30 costs us Rs 70,” Nabiyal said.

A part of the road to these villages was washed away last year between Najang and Lakhanpur. Even though the Army’s Border Roads Organisation is constructing the road, it is currently not suitable for vehicles. “People use this route on their own risk,” said Krishna Garbyal, a local resident. He added that the villagers’ problems regarding supplies can be solved if the government increases the ration quota for remote villages so that they don’t have to look elsewhere for their supplies. “We are living as orphans in our own country although we are situated in an important border area. The government should consider our demand for extra ration,” said Garbyal.

When queried on the steps being taken to resolve the problem, RK Pande, SDM Dharchula told TOI, “We had conveyed the villagers’ demand regarding increase in their ration quota to the state government but it was not accepted.”

Pithoragarh district magistrate C Ravishankar said that “the situation regarding shortage of ration supplies will be resolved once the route to the villages becomes accessible.”

CUT OFF: The access road to the Dharchula valley has been blocked for several months near the Lipulekh pass that connects these villages to the rest of the district. Villagers say they are being forced to live as ophans in their own country

Courtesy: Times of India: 5 Sep, 2018