‘Ghost Villages’ a Growing Threat in Uttarakhand & India’s Hill Areas | Asian Age

Recently, a tragic situation arose at a village in Uttarakhand’s villages are emptying out, with young people moving out for a variety of reasons, sometimes leaving elderly parents, and often just locking up their homes.

Forsaking the village has become common in Uttarakhand’s hill districts. The youth don’t want to continue with the traditional occupation of agriculture: it’s not remunerative enough. Thus, abandoned fields, collapsing cattle sheds and locked houses define areas that once sustained vibrant agrarian communities.

These “ghost villages” are described as a natural outcome of modernisation. But that’s a false narrative. Modernisation does not mean abandoning the traditional, rather improving and enhancing the traditional. That is where policymakers have failed. Little effort has been made in villages in hill areas, particularly in Uttarakhand, to diversify and develop the village economy, create good educational and health facilities and provide attractive jobs and income opportunities. It’s also the result of not investing in agriculture, which is the economy’s mainstay in these areas. The new element is the contribution of television and now social media, showing fantasy worlds. The triumph of illusion over reality creates a magnetic attraction for the younger generation. It’s not just farming (seen as backward anyway) and not paying enough, it’s the lure of city glamour that is drawing the youth there.

Today’s rural youth don’t migrate merely in search of jobs; they also migrate in search of a status they think rural life does not offer them. Urban life is projected as success. TV and social media relentlessly glorify consumption, leisure and spectacle. For young men, ogling fashionably dressed women holds a particular fascination. Farming, by contrast, is physically demanding, socially invisible, and economically unrewarding. Simply not “sexy” enough!

This cultural shift has had devastating consequences. Working on one’s own land, tending crops, or managing livestock is now seen by many young people as a lowly activity and a mark of failure, of non-achievement. The dignity historically associated with farming has been systematically eroded. The pride in being masters of your own land and the idea of caring for the land has been replaced by the desire for the “successful” urban lifestyle.

Young women’s aspirations reflect similar pressures. Rural women have always carried a disproportionate burden as unpaid labour: caring for livestock, collecting fodder, managing households and working in fields. These contributions remain invisible and unvalued. Many young women see village life as a trap, rather than a life within a community. Marriage increasingly becomes a route out of rural life, not a partnership to strengthen it. At the same time, young men aspire to urban-oriented partners, while rural women seek spouses with salaried jobs and city addresses.

Underlying this is the economic reality of farming. Agriculture no longer provides a reliable or adequate income. Rising input costs, volatile prices, lack of assured markets and weak institutional support have made farming unviable for small and marginal farmers. Governments have spoken endlessly about doubling farmers’ incomes, but that piece of propaganda blew up in no time, making farmers even more cynical about any government support.

Land ownership patterns add another layer of complexity. In many villages, land remains jointly held by extended families. Fragmentation, disputes and economic interest make sale or consolidation difficult. Families migrate but retain ownership, leaving land uncultivated. Terraces collapse, invasive species spread, and fragile hill ecosystems degrade. Social migration becomes ecological decline.

The irony is that the urban economy absorbing this migration is far less stable than it appears. Most rural youth do not enter secure, well-paid employment in the cities. They enter informal jobs with long hours, poor working conditions and no social security. Housing is expensive, public services are stretched and social isolation is common. Yet the illusion persists.

The cost of empty villages is far greater than the loss of a population. When villages die, food security weakens, agro-biodiversity erodes and traditional knowledge disappears. India’s resilience has always rested on its rural systems: diverse crops, local food cultures and decentralised livelihoods. So if villages continue to empty out, India will lose the foundations of self-reliance in food systems, ecological balance and social stability.

Yet reversing this trend requires more than emotional appeals. Farming must be made economically viable, socially respected and institutionally supported. Rural areas need education, healthcare, connectivity and opportunities for local enterprise. Most important, agriculture must be repositioned as skilled, modern and dignified work.

Let’s recall the most far-sighted and inspiring call to action made by Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965: “Self-sufficiency in food to be no less important than an impregnable defence system in the preservation of our freedom and independence.” This was how the “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” slogan was born.

https://www.asianage.com/opinion/columnists/suman-sahai-ghost-villages-a-growing-threat-in-uttarakhand-indias-hill-areas-1942449

Water, Asia’s New Battleground by Brahma Chellaney

Reviewed by Suman Sahai

In a recent James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, the villain hatches diabolical plots to corner a certain South American country's fresh water resources. The Bond war is not over deposits of oil and gold but water. The conflict potential of water has clearly arrived even in the public’s imagination. In the backdrop of growing tensions over the sharing of water resources across the world and specially so in Asia , Brahma Chellaney’s new book titled Water, Asia’s New Battleground ( Harper Collins, 2011) is both timely and relevant.

In its seven chapters the book deals with diverse aspects of water in Asia , the conflicts and disputes that exist already and those likely to exacerbate as the economic boom in this region drives demand for scarce water resources. Many of these water resources will become further points of dispute as climate change melts glaciers , diminishes rainfall and reduces the over all availability of water in shared rivers. The unique role of the Tibetan plateau and China’s control of the headwaters of several rivers crucial to Asia constitutes an important part of the book’s analysis of the growing potential for discord. The book also deals with shared water resources on India’s western side, with Pakistan and the growing conflict over that sharing under the Indus Treaty. At the time of partition, the British gave the three western rivers of the Indus river system ( Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) to Pakistan and the three eastern rivers ( Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) to India. According to Mr Chellaney, India has failed to address this source of tension.

Mr. Chellaney describes the impact of the destructive use of natural resources, including water, in Asia’s rapid quest for double digit economic growth and how this is laying the ground for strategic shifts in Asia’s water politics, creating even greater potential for water wars between countries. The increasing demand for water to grow more food for the population dense countries of Asia, particularly China and India, is already causing upheavals in water sharing agreements. Both China and India are shown to be the victims of their earlier legacies of water use. Mao made grandiose plans for mega projects to divert water from the water rich south of China to its arid north and make huge dams on its rivers so that today China has the largest number of dams in the world. This includes the highly contentious Three Gorges dam which has wrought environmental destruction on an unprecedented scale. The over damming of rivers has interfered in their flows leading farmers to turn to groundwater, causing its overexploitation and pollution of aquifers.

In a different way, Mr Chellaney says that India’s negligent and disjointed approach to water management has also created a water crisis. Constitutionally water was made a state subject (rather than a central one, which would allow easier regulation) so that today states that share rivers are perpetually entangled in water disputes. Similarly, the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan ( 1960) according to which India committed to indefinitely reserve 80 percent of the Indus waters for Pakistan, reflects a lack of foresight and understanding of the role of water , especially for an agriculture dependent, food insecure country.

The book’s most fascinating part is where it lays out the position and politics of Tibet as an enormously rich source of natural resources, especially minerals, water and biodiversity. China’s annexation of Tibet and the brutal measures it takes to subjugate this rich land and its gentle people, is to be seen in the context of its determination to exploit Tibet’s vast mineral resources and its water for hydropower and irrigation, even as it destroys it unique, often unparalleled biodiversity . Having brought its own water resources under severe stress and caused irreversible contamination in many parts, China is now seeking to conquer the waters of Tibet. It is pursuing major water projects like inter river transfers in the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau. Tibet qualifies as a world heritage site on account of any one of its many aspects, its irreplaceable biodiversity, its landscape with deep gorges and canyons, its unique systems of agriculture and the culture of its people. Mr Chellaney’s description of the desecration of Tibet by China is heartbreaking .

This is a comprehensive and interesting book but it could have paid greater attention to suggesting what India could propose to mitigate the potential water conflict with China; what negotiating positions could it put on the table ? What counter measures could it take to protect its interests ? How for instance, could the two countries take advantage of each other’s strengths so that there is more to be gained from cooperation than conflict? Both countries, but especially China, have experience with micro hydropower projects. Local communities in the Himalayas and in Tibet have a tremendous knowledge of biodiversity, hydrology and efficient water use, as well as water conservation. Sharing this knowledge could build bridges of mutual benefit and provide a stake in collaborating. So far, collaboration and coordination between the two countries in dealing with environmental challenges has been limited, despite several signed agreements. In 1993, China and India signed a collaboration agreement on the environment and more recently they have signed an agreement to jointly monitor glaciers work and together in the areas of energy and afforestation. Suggestions on taking such beginnings forward would have added value to this book.

Asian Age, Dec 11, 2011