On May 25, 2024, a group of 40 people began a march from Pangu village in Uttarakhand, bordering Nepal. After a quick walk to Askot village a short distance away, they began a long journey on foot to Arakot village in Uttarkashi district, all the way to the other end of the state that touches the border with Himachal Pradesh. This march or yatra was not about the destination but about a journey that began some five decades ago, and has come to be known as the Askot-Arakot Abhiyan.
Every decade since 1974, students, scholars, activists and journalists from across Uttarakhand have set out on this unique journey on foot, trying to retrace the path taken during the previous Askot-Arakot Abhiyan. Although on the map, the journey appears to spread over a distance of 750 km, the actual distance is far longer and usually continues for 45 days. Often, the participants veer off the central route and venture into remote villages, some tucked away in the rugged terrain of the high Himalayas and 80-90 km away from the nearest road (see ‘A 1,000-km journey’). In each of these villages, they spend time with the local communities to understand if and how development in the state, the country and even globally, impact them.
“In 2024, we organised the sixth yatra,” says historian and author Shekhar Pathak, one of participants and organisers. Known for his books and writings on the socio-political history of the Himalayas, Pathak holds another distinction—to have participated in every Askot-Arakot Abhiyan since 1974, when he was a college student.
Now in his 70s, Pathak recalls that every Askot-Arakot Abhiyan has a central theme—a purpose—which guides the journey and its outcome. The 2024 yatra, for instance, was based on the theme, “source to confluence”, alluding to the relation of communities with the rivers. Harsh Kafar, a young poet from Someshwar, Almora district, who participated in the Abhiyan for the first time in 2024, says an attempt was also made to estimate how much of the natural resources, such as land, forests, water and minerals, that Uttarakhand has lost in the last five decades, particularly after it became a separate state 25 years ago.
The participants also had questions on the state of the rural economy over the past decade, the economic and cultural shifts and socio-political conditions. They wanted to observe the conditions in education, healthcare, welfare of women and children and natural resource use in the regions where road connectivity has increased.
“Compared to the previous five decades, 2014-24 saw the most drastic changes in Uttarakhand,” says Pathak. Life in remote villages has been touched by development, especially road connectivity, but people now suffer due to destruction of the landscape and the onslaught of extreme weather (see ‘‘More human-made disasters seen now’’).
The Askot-Arakot Abhiyan was conceptualised in the 1970s, when Uttarakhand (then part of unified Uttar Pradesh) was being recognised worldwide for the Chipko movement in which communities protested against rampant logging. It was one of the many movements in the region that saw enthusiastic participation from the youth, who were agitated over exploitation of water, forest and land resources.
Their mood is perhaps described best by Sundarlal Bahuguna, a pioneer of Chipko. In his book, Uttarakhand me Ek Sau Bees Din (1974), Bahuguna writes that young students rebelled against distress migration of people from their villages and wanted the region’s economy to be built around their water, forest and mineral wealth resources. The students also knew that for these issues to be considered, people will have to be awakened. Hence, a padyatra was planned.
The journey started on May 25, 1974 in Pithoragarh town, with a handful of people. For 45 days, the travellers walked, crossing 12 major rivers and three peaks 2,700-4,200 metres high. They visited more than 200 villages and towns. “We did not know what to discuss or observe. Broadly, we spoke to people about local issues like saving forests, prohibition of liquor, schools and education, connectivity and backwardness,” recalls Pathak.
The first yatra was of many revelations. Participants realised the inability of public representatives to reach remote villages. Local people did not even know their representatives. In one of his articles post the event, Pathak writes that the arrival of a district-level officer in these villages was a major event and people are most afraid of the patwari (administrative officer). The participants also saw that the conditions of remote villages across the high Himalayas were similar in many ways—widespread poverty and inadequate basic infrastructure. There was a cultural divide, driven by politics and regional animosity. Leaders in Garhwal opposed “more Kumaon devel-opment”, while those of Kumaon claimed Garhwal received more finances, Pathak wrote.
A decade later, a second yatra was planned; this time, it began from Pangu village rather than Askot. The participants formed a non-profit, People’s Association for Himalayan Area Research (PAHAR), and created subject-wise forms for each village they would potentially visit. They decided to increase the opportunity to interact with the local communities, by requesting them to arrange food and accomm-odation for them. To ensure they do not burden the households, only one roti and some vegetables were accepted from each family.
“In 1984, we were joined by more travellers. So we formed different groups and met every two-three days through different routes and villages. We started discovering how the changes taking place in the country and the world are affecting the remote villages of the mountains; what the absence of education, hospitals, communication or roads mean for the people; and estimated the status of migration,” says Pathak. Women in the Abhiyan spoke to the women in villages, and in the evenings, meetings were held with children.
“The efforts strengthened with each decade, with more people joining in,” says Girija Pande, a trustee at PAHAR who has participated in every yatra since 1994. After each Abhiyan, armed with information, the participants document what they have observed. Individual experiences have been published in journals and magazines. PAHAR has also launched a magazine that features articles from every Abhiyan as well as other insights and studies on the Himalayan region.
The Askot-Arakot Abhiyan has also inspired a trend of research expeditions in mountain areas. Short studies were conducted in the Garhwal region’s Nandikund-Manpui in 1985, Kali Kuti-Dhauli valley area of Pithoragarh in 1986 and Gauri Ganga and Madkanya valley in 1987. People also began venturing into Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling and Ladakh. They went as far as Alaska, the Andes or the Alps for comparative studies on life in different mountain ecosystems.
The 2024 Abhiyan, too, is expected to result in papers and documentations of changes in Uttarakhand. PAHAR also plans to publish a book on all yatras so far.
When asked about the next decade, and the future of the Abhiyan, Pande is confident that it will continue as long as the youth are interested.
This was first published in the 1-15 April, 2025 print edition of Down To Earth