Pithoragarh: Villagers dependent on rations from China as state govt supplies often don’t reach them in time

PITHORAGARH: For around 400 families living in the Byas valley of Dharchula who are forced to procure basic necessities like salt, cooking oil, rice and wheat produced in China (which are reaching them via Nepal), the situation can be resolved if the state government increases the quota of ration given to them under the Public Distribution System (PDS).“We are living as orphans in our own country although we are situated in an important border area with two neighbouring countries. The government should consider our demand for extra ration sympathetically,” said Krishna Garbyal, a resident of Garbyang village which is one of the seven villages including Bundi, Gunji, Kuti, Napalchu, Nabhi and Ronkong whose residents are currently forced to buy daily essentials brought in from China.This year, villagers say, the rations supplied by the state government have not been able to reach them on time as the access road to the valley has been blocked for several months near the Lipulekh pass which connects these villages to the rest of the district. “The nearest marketplace is in Dharchula, which is over 50 km away. Because the route is blocked nowadays, supplies are very erratic and we are not able to get our government ration on time as it takes a massive effort to transport foodgrain and other items on mules and porters to our village,” said Ashok Nabiyal, a resident of Nabhi village.The supplies, even if they do reach, are not sufficient for the 400-odd families. “The government provides only 2 kilo rice and 5 kilo wheat per family under the public distribution system (PDS) which is not sufficient for us. We are often forced to purchase daily goods from Tinkar and Changru villages of Nepal, whose residents source these items from the Taklakot bazaar in China,” Nabiyal said.According to the villagers, the Chinese goods that they are procuring from the Nepalese villages are “less expensive than those that they get at the marketplace in Dharchula.” “The transportation cost in bringing goods from Dharchula to our villages is substantial. On every kilo, there is a transportation cost of around Rs 30-40. As a result, even a packet of salt which is for Rs 30 costs us Rs 70 by the time it reaches here,” Nabiyal said.A part of the road to these villages was washed away last year between Najang and Lakhanpur. Even though the Army’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is constructing the road, it is currently not suitable for vehicles. “People use this route on their own risk since the road is extremely hazardous,” Garbyal said.When queried on the steps being taken to resolve the problem, RK Pande, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Dharchula told TOI, “We had conveyed the villagers’ demand regarding increase in their ration quota to the state government but it was not accepted.” Pithoragarh district magistrate C Ravishankar meanwhile said that “the situation regarding shortage of ration supplies will be resolved once the route to the villages becomes accessible.” “The problem of shortage of supplies has arisen only this year due to the route getting blocked between Najang and Lakhanpur. In order to ensure accessibility, we had constructed two wooden bridges on Kali river at Lakhanpur and Najang but they got washed away in the rains.” He added that the district administration has requested the state government to extend the helicopter service — which was started this year to ferry Kailash Mansarovar Yatra pilgrims from Pithoragarh to Gunji during the yatra season between June and September — for a few extra months so that the choppers can also be used to transport ration supplies to the remote villages.