Uttarakhand: Hollow celebrations and ghost villages

Uttarakhand marked the 25th anniversary of its formation on 9 November and the Pushkar Singh Dhami government left no stone unturned to ‘showcase’ its achievements. The grand celebrations included a three-day comedy festival that attracted crowds despite the pricey tickets.

Beyond the celebrations, however, lies a troubling and stark reality — village after village is being abandoned by inhabitants, turning large parts of the region into ghost villages. According to the Uttarakhand Rural Development and Migration Commission, more than 1,700 of the state’s 16,793 villages now stand uninhabited.

The latest to join this list is Chauni, near Bageshwar town in Almora district. Once a lively, bustling village housing dozens of families, its stone houses are now locked after the last of its residents left two weeks back seeking a better life in the plains.

Banshidhar Joshi, a retired principal and Chauni’s first graduate, says the exodus was inevitable, and points to the failure of the government to provide basic facilities. “It is so painful to see my village deserted like this, but we have no choice. Government after government keeps promising roads, doctors and schools, but nothing materialises.”

A recent study by Nagendra Pal, assistant professor at Government PG College, Kanda — published in the Lyceum India Journal of Social Sciences — warns that this trend will continue.

Farming — traditionally the backbone of the region — is weakened by fragmented landholdings, erratic weather and limited government support. The government fails to realise that climate change is reducing agricultural yields; without intervention, many more villages will be abandoned.

The mountain districts of Uttarakhand are still short of basic facilities, especially healthcare. Jobs are few, pushing young people to the plains.

Anil Joshi, environmental activist and convenor of Gaon Bachao Andolan, puts it bluntly: “Uttarakhand was not founded for the development of its cities but for the development of its 16,000 plus villages in the hills. But nothing is being done for them.”

The Godiyal gamble

The Congress, meanwhile, is undergoing an internal reboot. It has appointed a Ganesh Godiyal as party chief in Uttarakhand and Harak Singh Rawat and Pritam Singh as heads of the campaign and election committees, respectively. The appointment of this triumvirate is a blow to the ambitions of senior Congress leader Harish Rawat, who has maintained an iron grip on the state unit since he first became president in 2000, and had hoped to reclaim the post.

Godiyal, once a protégé of Harish Rawat, is determined to shake off this 25-year-old ‘stranglehold’ on the Congress. He knows he will have to outsmart Rawat, who has ensured that no successor could function independently.

Harish Rawat, however, forgets that he has presided over repeated electoral setbacks. The Congress failed to win even a single seat in the 2014, 2019, and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Yet, whenever the party brass elevates another leader, Rawat’s behind-the-scenes manoeuvres reportedly undermine them.

He did not reportedly spare even his own family. When his brother-in-law Kiran Mahara was appointed state Congress president, their relationship became frosty.

Harak Singh Rawat’s return to the Congress, after a stint in the BJP, adds another layer of complexity. Harish Rawat has not forgiven Harak Singh for conniving to get nine party MLAs to join hands with the BJP to topple the Congress government in 2016. Although Harak Singh has apologised, tensions persist.

Now facing a CBI enquiry and scrutiny by the Enforcement Directorate in cases of alleged corruption, Harak Singh has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the BJP.

It is against this background that Godiyal takes charge 13 months before the 2027 Assembly election. One will have to wait and watch if this leadership gamble pays off.

Trouble in Haldwani

The state is also facing renewed communal tension with trouble brewing afresh in the Banphoolpura area of Haldwani following rumours that the head of a calf was discovered near a school facing a temple. The Hindutva brigade instantly swung into action, and on 16 November vandalised a large number of shops and business establishments owned by Muslims.

Following a complaint by local residents, the SSP of Nainital district ordered an inquiry. However, CCTV footage showed that the ‘culprit’ was a dog that had dragged the remains of an animal from the forest. The remains of this animal have now been sent for forensic examination.

A large police contingent was deployed to control the mob which continued acts of vandalism. As many as 50 FIRs were lodged against unknown miscreants for attempting to destroy peace and communal harmony.

The Banphoolpura area has remained on the boil since February 2024, when authorities demolished a building housing a madrasa and a mosque. Social media-fuelled misinformation compounds tensions, including exaggerated claims about Muslim population growth in Haldwani. Census figures reveal that from 2001 to 2011, the Muslim population grew modestly from 1 per cent to 2.5 per cent, and not as alleged online.

Political interference has added more fuel. Earlier this year, zila panchayat members were abducted to prevent their participation in the chairperson’s election, prompting harsh criticism from the Uttarakhand High Court against police lapses. Another incident involving the alleged sexual assault of a minor sparked mob violence, again drawing judicial censure for poor police responses.

For many observers, these repeated flare-ups reflect a political strategy. The Dhami government, they argue, is keeping the communal pot boiling to distract from governance failures elsewhere — particularly in the hills where villages continue to empty and development remains stalled.