BIJNOR: Upset with the lack of development in their area, residents of 185 villages in Bijnor district of western UP now want to break away and join neighbouring Uttarakhand instead. Situated on the UP-Uttarakhand border, these villages are over 70 km away from the district headquarters in Bijnor city.

An organization called Seemavarti Sangharsh Samiti has announced it will launch a stir in December, after the gram pradhan elections .

Samiti’s chief convener Manmohan Singh said, “Locals here are very clear on their demand to be a part of Uttarakhand. These 185 villages fall under 33 village panchayats. There is negligible development here. All of us met recently and decided to launch the movement on December 15.”

Residents have also made it clear to aspirants in the ongoing gram pradhan polls that they will have to pitch for this demand if they’re voted to power.

Explaining the reasons behind the secession demand, Singh said, “When the states were being divided, we had raised the demand even then. We had demanded that we be allowed to separate from Bijnor and join Uttarakhand. However, nobody paid any attention to us. My village is 75km away from the district headquarters in Bijnor city. When we sow our crops, we don’t have water to irrigate our fields. Most of these villages don’t even have power lines. The villages that do have power lines don’t have electricity. Very few villages that get power supply get it for 4-5 hours only. On the other hand, villages in Uttarakhand get power for 20-23 hours. They are so close to us, but the quality of life is so different there on that side of the border.”

He added, “There is no good college or high school anywhere in the area. Our kids have to go Kotdwar in Uttarakhand to get education. Due to long travelling hours, most girls have to drop out. The roads and transport situation is terrible.”

Kunwar Singh, another activist, said, “Even from a geographical point of view, it makes sense for us to be in Uttarakhand. The Allahabad high court and the capital in Lucknow are very far from here while Dehradun is close by. From a cultural point of view, we identify more with Uttarakhandis. Most of our relatives are settled in Uttarakhand, rather than UP. This time, the struggle will be a long one. We will meet both the CMs, Akhilesh Yadav and Harish Rawat, to convince them of our point.”

Madan Singh Rawat, a resident of Telipada village and an activist, said, “Our villages are very close to the Corbett tiger reserve and wild animals often frequent these villages. When these animals destroy our crops, we go to the Uttarakhand government for compensation. But we are told to first approach the UP government and ask them to send a proposal to Dehradun. When we approach the UP government, they wash their hands of us too.”