Uttarakhand govt committed to restoring lost glory of Jadung

Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, Jadung, a tiny hamlet on the Sino-Indo border in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi, is a village where time seems to have stopped.

Inhabited originally by the Jadh Bhotiya, a semi-nomadic tribe, the village was evacuated in 1962 during the India-China war and since then, the inhabitants have migrated to nearby villages such as Dunda, Bagori and Harsil and even to farther cities like Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh in search of work. The odd dilapidated houses in the village tell stories of a vibrant past, when the villagers had trading ties with neighbouring regions of Tibet. They would trade sugar, grains, spices and wool and in return bring back salt and ornaments.

All of it ended with the 1962 war, with the abandoned houses waiting to narrate stories of their hallowed past. Fast forward to 2023, Sachin Kurve, the dynamic tourism secretary of Uttarakhand, vowed to restore the lost glory of Jadung by developing it as a tourism village, thus fulfilling PM Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving the three objectives – overall development of the country’s villages in a phased manner, stopping migration from border villages and preserving local culture by improving all kinds of connectivity, basic facilities and development of infrastructure

in the villages.

In a landmark decision, Uttarakhand tourism promulgated the Jadung policy in January 2024 with the aim of developing ecologically sustainable infrastructure in the region and providing opportunities for self-employment to the original

inhabitants of the village.

Under the policy, the tourism department is undertaking renovation of six old houses initially, using vernacular architecture and locally sourced raw material. These renovated houses will be handed over to the families of the original inhabitants by a committee set up at the district level to operate these houses as homestays. The tourism department will provide training, skill development support and marketing support to the

homestay owners.

In order to develop other tourism related activities in the region, the department is developing viewpoints at Hawabend near Garstang Gali, an entry gate and a check post at a cost of Rs 141.81 lakh. Another viewpoint is being developed at Sri Kantha at a total cost

of Rs 159.93 lakh.