U’khand villagers told to relocate
As India and China continue to be locked in a stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and a “war-like” intent being displayed by China, massive deployment of forces and increased supplies of arms and ammunition are not the only preparations underway in India.
In a clear indication of the tense situation prevailing between the two countries, residents, particularly women and children, of at least five border villages along the LAC in Uttarakhand have been advised to go to safer locations — a first since the 1962 war with China. For the villages in Dharchula of Pithoragarh district in the hill state, not one but two enemies are at their doorstep — China and Nepal.
Sources in Dharchula disclosed to Deccan Chronicle that the local administration had recently issued an advisory to the gram pradhans, or village heads, of the border villages of Kuti, Nabhi, Raung Kong, Napalachchu and Gunji, advising them to move the women and children from the respective villages due to the grave situation along the border.
The move comes even as the Army and ITBP soldiers are being deployed ahead of these villages in large numbers.
The villages, located at an altitude of over 10,000 feet, are not very far away from Mount Kailash, close to where the People’s Liberation Army of China is said to have deployed surface-to-air missiles.
People belonging to these villages live there for about six months, between May and November. Once the winter gets harsh when temperatures fall below minus-20º Celsius, they move to the lower reaches in Dharchula town by November or December. The five villages are located a few kilometres from the tri-junction between India, China and Nepal.
“The villagers have been informed about the advisory and some of them are packing up and will leave soon. We have requested that women and children be sent down as early as possible. In case the situation takes a turn for the worse, most men have decided to stay back and assist the Army and the ITBP,” one of the village heads told this newspaper.
These villages used to be pit stops for trekkers, tays by the locals.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the people have been hit hard.
Most of them sell various products including herbs which they painstakingly collect from mountains at the annual trade between India and China but even that did not take place this year.
“Our main earnings are through the trade every year. When we return from China, we buy some products which we sell when we go down to the town. This time around, we do not know how to survive,” said a local.
The villagers are worried that if tensions continue to rise between India and China, they will permanently lose their source of income and in the worst scenario, even their houses.
About 975 people including 395 females reside across the five border villages, leading tough lives .
“During the 1962 war, our ancestors assisted the Indian Army and stood by them in the most difficult times. We even gave our rations to them and transported their equipment, arms and ammunition on our backs. We will do the same even now if there is a repeat of 1962,” Virendra Singh Nabiyal, a local of Nabi village, said.