21-04-2025
Spring migration from U'khand hills disrupted as avalanches, landslides cut off vital routes
Pithoragarh:
Avalanches and landslides
have disrupted the seasonal migration of residents from 14 villages in Uttarakhand's
Malla Johar valley
, blocking roads and trails that connect their winter homes in the lower valleys to their summer villages in the high mountains. The
transhumant communities
were unable to return home in April as planned, causing economic distress and threatening the short agricultural season.
Villagers from Milam, Burfu, Relkot, Ganghar, Lwa, Bugdiyar, Panchu, Martoli, Laspa, Bilju, Mapa, Lilam and Kailanch, who traditionally migrate every spring with their livestock to grow cash crops such as mustard, potatoes and herbs, remained stranded. Devendra Singh, one of the villagers waiting to return, said, "We are very late this time."
Sriram Singh, president of Malla Joshar Vikas Samiti, said the delay could result in substantial crop losses. "Each family earns about 1 lakh from farming during the six-month period they spend in their villages," he said. "If we do not reach in time, this income will be lost."
Munsyari SDM Khusbu Pande said the road is currently open till Railkot and that ground staff will begin clearing operations as soon as the weather improves. "The road will be cleared within a week," she added.
Public works department, which is responsible for maintaining the bridle paths, had deployed 20 labourers to the region, but they returned to Munsyari due to inclement weather, Pande said. Meanwhile, the Border Roads Organisation, which has constructed new roads in the area, has inadvertently damaged some of the old bridle paths that villagers previously used for their annual migration.
The Shauka Bhotiya communities of Malla Johar have followed this transhumant lifestyle for centuries, traditionally migrating with their flocks between high-altitude villages in summer and lower valleys in winter. Their way of life was once tied closely to cross-border trade with Tibet, which ended abruptly after the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
Since then, most families have shifted focus to agriculture, livestock rearing and herb collection for income. Despite these changes, a small number still practise the seasonal migration — mainly for farming during the brief alpine growing season. Their numbers have declined drastically, from 1,475 households in 1961 to only a few dozen today.
