Assessing disaster and socio-economic issues ensuing out migration in Uttrakhand: A study of Garhwal

Abstract

Migration is a universal phenomenon, people migrate from one place to another for the better opportunity of livelihood. There are many Push and Pull factors behind migration depends on the socio-economic, political and environmental condition of the origin and destination places. Climate change and disasters are also responsible for the migration of people from some areas. Natural disasters are naturally occurring phenomenon where the nature dose a lot of destruction to the socio-economic condition and in some cases, there is loss of human life. The area due to its certain geographical location and geological condition may be vulnerable to multiple hazard at the same time. Due to the geological condition of the city and deforestation, forest fire and increasing fallow land in the region, when exposed to heavy rainfall and ground shaking the region experiences many landslides and slope failure in various parts of the region. Migration is also a big issue in some region due to the regional disparity in development. Yamkeshwar is one of the 9 Taluk in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, facing the maximum rural out migration due to disaster and socioeconomic issues. Men from the region today have migrated in large numbers to cities all over India, as domestic helpers, drivers, cooks, peons, clerks and occasionally in higher government jobs. Salvation lies in getting secure government jobs and the ultimate is migration of the entire family from the village to escape the hardship of life in Himalayan Settlements. Only the lucky few success in this process of total migration. For the rest, it is a truncated family, with the women, children and old left behind while the men brave the hardship of city life dreaming of secure employment and income. Due to downpour, landslide, Human wildlife conflicts, shortage of infrastructure etc. the people are forced to migrate from the region and resulting in the uninhabited “Ghost villages” in the region. The thesis aim is to study the patterns of out-migration in Garhwal district of Uttarakhand due to major driving forces of disasters and socio-economic issues, and to suggest the efficient ways to address the issue. As migration in Uttarakhand is a cyclic process, people are leaving their homes and the available households in the villages are facing shortage of infrastructure as schools are shutting down and health facilities are also far away. These problems are leading to the vulnerable conditions of villagers. Development programs are also not executed as population is not enough in the villages. Due to these impacts people further are forced to migrate and eventually they migrate. The various factors/parameters which challenge rural livelihood and responsible for rural out migration from the region such as rainfall variability and extreme weather events; Trends of rural out-migration, Reasons behind out migration and past disaster trend in the study area, will be considered. Information and data required for the study will be generated and collected from diverse sources including Primary and Secondary sources. The primary information will be generated through intensive field investigations, observations, and by socio-economic surveys. The initial information was collected from the secondary survey and different literature and for the ground truth primary survey was done in the region. Various other aspects are also considered like Human wildlife conflicts, infrastructure availability, road connectivity etc., many push and pull factors are considered in analyzing the condition of the villagers and migrants. For analyzing the data GIS tool with weighted overlay technique is used based upon the different aspects, and vulnerability assessment has been done. The proposals has been given according to the vulnerability, socio-economic conditions of the villagers. Suggestions are also made to reduce the migration from the region.