CHENNAI: The mini­truck loaded with household arti cles navigates the slithering ghat road slowly towards the plains as the resplendent sun disappears behind the hills of Valparai. Eight people, all belonging to the same family , sit precariously atop the baggage on the truck.As the truck crosses the forest checkpost, Valparai was left with one more family abandoning the hill town in search of greener pastures. "We see at least two families, living in and around Valparai, moving to the plains bag and baggage every fortnight," says a forest guard at the checkpost.

People who have been living in Valparai for decades, some of who were brought to work in the tea estates by their British and Indian masters three or four generations ago, are going back. What started as a slow trickle in the late 90s has become a steady outflow, leaving Valparai with less than half the population it had 20 years ago."The population dropped to 95,107 during the 2001 census and to 70,771 during the 2011 census," says municipal chairperson V Sathyavani Muthu.

When the tea plantations were booming in the previous century , many moved here from the plains. But, today , a range of factors including the decline of the tea industry, lack of other job opportunities, and man-animal conflict are driving a reverse migration. "Six months ago we had a cheetah standing near the petrol bunk on the main road at 2pm," says RK Kumar who runs a furniture store. "Till the animal was captured we were scared to step out alone. We didn't send our children to school," he says.

"Cheetahs come into the estates and take away pets. Elephants enter tea estates at night and damage houses," says municipal commissioner T Santhakumar.

But people would have lived with these dangers if only there were enough livelihood opportunities. "Tea estates are the only source of employment," says long-term resident of the hill station, Paul Devanasan.

The fall in price of tea has resulted in the industry struggling and estates dwindling."In spite of the back-breaking work in the estates, they are given wages as low as Rs215 a day," says a government official. "Free housing on the estate is also given only till they retire. So once they retire people prefer to move to the plains," he said. "Other industries like food, bakeries, hotels, furniture and stores have taken a hit because the market size has shrunk," said Venugopal, a Valparai food distributor.

Though Valparai has a government arts college, young people prefer colleges in Pollachi, the nearest town, since there are more job opportuni ties there. "Life in the hills is hard because of weather conditions, lack of transport facilities, healthcare and entertainment," says sociologist N Thirugnanasambandam.

Tourism offers a ray of hope but it has not grown enough to plug the population outflow."For all its charm as a hill resort, Valparai doesn't have even a single decent hotel or restaurant," says Devanasan. "We still have only homestays that are rapidly coming up, capitalizing on the absence of hotels," says Devanasan. "But they are run mostly by tea estate owners who employ just one or two servants," he adds. "The government should set up alternate industries that can create more jobs, both blue and white collar," says Kumar.