Over 700 Uttarakhand villages deserted in 10 years: Report

Over 700 villages in Uttarakhand have been deserted and more than 3.83 lakh people have left their villages in the last 10 years with half of them going out in search of livelihood, according to a report.

Sharing the data with the media in the presence of Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand Rural Development and Migration Commission Chairman S S Negi said however 70 per cent of the migrating population had moved only from one part of the state to another and not outside it.

The data forms part of the commission's report on the status of migration in the state over the last ten years which was released by the Chief Minister at his official residence here.

According to the data, a total of 3,83,726 people have migrated from their homes in Uttarakhand villages over the last 10 years with 50 per cent of them going out in search of livelihood and the rest due to poor education and health facilities.

Since the 2011 census, 734 villages in Uttarakhand have become totally depopulated out of which 14 are within an aerial distance of 5 km from the borders, Negi said.

There are 565 villages where the population has gone down by 50 per cent during the period, he said.

But there has also been reverse migration in around 850 villages spread over the 13 districts of the state, he said.

Migration from Uttarakhand, especially from its remote hill areas has been a major cause of concern for successive governments in the state.

Having a concrete database on the status of migration will help resolve the problem more effectively, the chief minister said.