Uttarakhand: Over 3,000 Migratory Villagers Complain of Shortage of Ration as Supply Stops

Pithoragarh: Over 3,000 villagers in this Uttarakhand district who migrate to the upper Himalayan regions during summers have complained of short supply of rations under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and demanded delivery of their quotas to them by helicopters.

 "We are supposed to get rations till October this year, but the supplier contractor stopped supplies after the road was breached at Mapang, and Ghora Lautana on Malla Johar route due to heavy landslides last month," said Shri Ram Singh Dharmshaktu, president of Malla Johar Vikas Samiti, an organisation of migratory villagers residing in upper Himalayan regions located at a height of above 9,000 feet.

The godown at Burfu on which 15 villages depend for their monthly ration has run out of stock as it did not receive any supplies last month, he said.

"We do not have any other alternative. If foodgrains are not supplied immediately we will face a dire shortage of them soon. As the roads by which they are brought are breached, we want the rations to be supplied by helicopters," Kundan Singh, a resident of Burfu village, said.

The villages likely to face ration shortages are Laspa, Burfu, Bilju, Mapa, Ganghar, Khilanch, Milam Tola, Martoli and Ralam, Dharmshaktu said.

While Laspa has 20 families living in summer migration, other villages have 15 to 20 families each, he said.

The district administration said it will send ration to villagers on time and has already filed a case of negligence against the supply contractor.

"I have instructed the SDM of Munsiyari and District Supply Officer of Pithoragarh to ensure supply of rations to the villagers. It is our prime duty," Pithoragarh District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said.