Uttarakhand's ghost villages, a side story to the Lok Sabha elections

For decades, the hills have witnessed consistent exodus. Will the tide reverse anytime soon?

As the sun's golden rays pierce through the mighty deodars in the Himalayas, casting a warm glow over the valleys and hamlets below, an eerie silence hangs in the mountain air. Echoes of the past resonate through abandoned, crumbling homes that form what have come to be called Uttarakhand's ‘ghost villages’ – haunting relics of a fading existence. 

The seriousness of the problem can be gauged from the fact that for the first time since elections started in India, 24 villages in the state did not have a single polling booth for the recent Lok Sabha polls.