Annual migration saves hundreds of residents as avalanche hits Chamoli village

At the time of the avalanche on Friday, the village was deserted as all the villagers were in Gopeshwar, the district headquarters, nearly 100 km from Mana.

Most families in the village have a separate accommodation in Gopeshwar where they make handicraft items during their five-month stay. When the weather improves and the Char Dham yatra starts around April-May, they go back to the village and sell the woolen items to the pilgrims thronging the village after visiting the Badrinath shrine.

Selling handicraft items and growing potato and fafar (buckwheat) are the main source of livelihood for the villagers.

Located at the height of 10,500 feet (from the sea level), Mana village has over 1,200 residents and 824 of them are enrolled as voters. Some of the villagers also run homestays. The nearest hospital is 3 km away in Badrinath.

“We are accustomed to this life… There is a school in the village but due to the annual migration, the villagers have got their children enrolled in the schools in Gopeshwar so that their studies are not affected,” says Pitambar Singh Molpha (63), the pradhan of Mana village.

During summer months, the parents come back to the village but the children stay in Gopeshwar to continue their studies, says Pitambar.

As per his information, the avalanche happened near Mana village where a road development work by BRO was going on for the past several months.

Former village pradhan Bhagat Singh says, “<strong>The avalanche hit a higher altitude area where there was a camp of labourers. The village is deserted at this time because of annual migration. Only Army and BRO personnel stay in camps in adjoining areas during this period.” Singh too lives in Gopeshwar with his family. His younger son is a student of nursing in Gopeshwar and the elder one sells woolen clothes in Mana from April to November, he says.

“During our stay in Gopeshwar, we require permission from the administration to go back to our village. Generally people don’t go there during this period (winter) because there is no access to houses buried under snow,” says Pitambar.

Situated along the Alaknanda river, Mana has several locations linked to the epic Mahabharat. Pilgrims visiting Badrinath often travel another 3 km to visit the village, which, according to the epic,  the Pandavas “walked past en route to heaven”.

Other villages in Chamoli where migration to lower altitude happens during winter months include Dronagiri, Malari, Kailashpur, Gamshali, Jelum, Kosha, Jumma and Niti among others.  During the Badrinath Assembly bypoll in July last year, the voters of these villages, including Mana, voted in the parental village for the first time since the formation of Uttarakhand because they happened to be in the village at that time. During polls, the migrant voters are attached with the polling stations nearest to their location at the time.