Jaswatnagar, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh

Hubbalal, 80 years old, rested on a cot in the shade of a tree hoping for some respite from the near-fatal heat in Jaswantnagar block’s Ghura village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah. There was a certain sadness in his voice and eyes.

“We hear about some government schemes when we visit the market but, we know it is unlikely these schemes would find its way here,” sighed Hubbalal.

There are 56 gram panchayats in Jaswantnagar block. The secluded villages of this region are quite inaccessible. Hence, neither government officials nor the government schemes reach these villages.

A Gaon Connection team toured some villages in Chambal ravines on the verge of absolute desertion, as part of its Corona Footprint series. People of these villages face recurrent riverine floods and forest fires. The villages are rapidly deteriorating due to these and neglect from the government. The stories of these desolate villages were shared by villagers who chose to stay behind.

“The village has no facilities, no access. The entire village was washed away by the massive Yamuna river floods of 1978, pushing many to move out. Some stayed back and rebuilt their houses,” Hubbalal told Gaon Connection. “In 2000, a major fire destroyed everything. After that, most villagers left. Only 10-12 families rebuilt their houses,” he said. Some 70 families lived in Ghura village 20 years ago.

“Who would want to live in such houses?” he continued, pointing at the collapsed mud wall of his house, “We languish here in poverty. If we had money, we could’ve also headed to the cities.”

Chambal ravines have a past marred by natural disasters and vicious dacoit activities. These villages are devoid of even the basic facilities. There is no water for cultivation, no school for children, and the nearest hospital is at least 20 kilometres away. In the event of a flood, which is often, the villages are cut off for over four months. The jungle fires are seldom doused. Not surprisingly, people avoid marrying their daughters into these villages. Fed up of the constant struggle to survive, villagers are moving in search of better places.

The obvious question arises. How do these villagers earn a living? “We have left everything to God. Since there is no means of irrigation, we can cultivate only a single crop annually, during rains, but, if there is a flood, everything is washed away,” Hubbalal said. “I have a few goats and one buffalo. That is how I earn a living. We are not turning to the government for help, we try to feed ourselves,” he added.

Most houses in Ghura, which is about 40 kilometres from Etawah district headquarters, are dilapidated and may collapse any time. The houses are built at some distance from one another. They are thatched for shade. To prevent wild animals from entering, these huts are secured with a fence of barbed bushes.

“Please come and take a look at my house that has completely collapsed. I have not received any government housing aid,” Poonam Kumari, 30, requested to the Gaon Connection team. Her mud house had completely collapsed. It had a tiny room in which some kitchen utensils were kept. A sleeping mat was placed on the ground. Poonam looked at the small room and said, “This is all we have. When there is a downpour, I make my children sleep here. My husband and I wait for the rain to end so that we can sleep outside,” she lamented.

“I am five months pregnant. I have not received any checkup or vaccine yet,” she said. “Getting panjiri (nutritional supplement) for two to three times a year is a rare privilege. There is no Anganwadi (rural child care centre) facility here. No government scheme benefits the ravine villages,” she added.

One-and-a-half kilometres away from Ghura is Punchari village. Its inhabitants dropped from 250 to 60 families in the last 15-20 years.

The nearest community health centre is about 20 kilometres away. The way to this village is carved through the hills. During the rains, this path is swamped, cutting off the villagers from the outer world.

Balram Singh, 35, was happy to see the Gaon Connection team. “I am seeing media personnel here for the first time in 35 years. I thank you for taking the pain to come and inquire about our village,” he said.

Balram believes the reason behind government apathy is the number of voters in the village. “We have a gram panchayat of nine villages and few votes. So, no political party pays us any attention,” he said. “This school is a namesake. It is seldom functioning. Mid-day meals are not provided either,” Balram said, pointed at the primary school building.

“The country may have progressed but there is no development in our village. There are no means of transport. If you do not own a cycle or a motorbike, you will have to carry your children to the hospital. No one cares if people here live or die,” Munnalal, 60, carrying a bundle of firewood, lamented.

“I have become so old, I have not benefitted from any government scheme yet. At least a ration card could have been made for me. Had not the villagers helped me out, I would have died of starvation long ago,” said Shobha Ram, 82.

“My children have grown but, I never got any panjiri,” said Julie Devi, 32, caressing the head of her two young children. “Let alone panjiri, we do not even have essentials. Our house is broken, we have to go to the river to take a bath,” she said.

“We have never seen the world beyond the jungle. Hungry, thirsty, or dead, no one is going to come here to inquire. How does one earn in the jungle?” Julie is furious. “Now, during the coronavirus pandemic, my husband is not getting any job. How do I feed my children?” her bitter words revealed her helplessness and the failure of the government’s welfare policies.

Stories of dacoits of Chambal valley reached us, packaged in cinematic glamour. Movies like Pan Singh Tomar, Sonchiraiya, and Chambal Ki Kasam are examples. Unlike these, the mundane sufferings of life in Chambal couldn’t have been further away from the corridors of power.

These villages may have come back to life due to the reverse migration the nationwide lockdown led to but, their hardships have not lessened at all. All their savings have been exhausted and they are finding it incredibly difficult to pass each day.

The situation is the same in several hundred villages in the Chambal region. The villages that are completely deserted are registered in the revenue department file as Bechirag (lampless or abandoned) villages.