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Over 40% of the population in India's hill state, Uttarakhand is migrant and there are at least 1700 ghost villages. Most of the mountain communities here depend on springs for domestic water use, especially in the mid hills that are away from direct glacial sources. Climate change and unsustainable water management have been wreaking havoc on these traditional water sources, leading to water scarcity in the already harsh mountain region. On top of that, agrarian crisis, extreme weather events and lack of decent livelihood is driving an unprecedented exodus from the mountains, leaving once-thriving villages as shadows of the past. In this film, we visit two villages, one with spring water and another without, to see a stark difference in how they function. Mohan Singh from Kabdoli narrates the tragic story of his village that is being abandoned due to lack of employment, agriculture and water. While Bhopal Singh from Malsakhet narrates the story of how his village is holding on despite migration, because they still have water and are managing their community forest well. Mayank Shah, a social researcher and Ph.D from Nainital, Uttarakhand who works on climate change, livelihood and migration issues ties the two stories together to explain how the failing rural mountain economy must be revived to stop migration and withstand growing climate impacts in future.

Leela Bisht is a mother of two and lives in a small village near Ramgarh with her husband. She has led a difficult life due to limited economic means and is determined to highly educate her children so that they can escape a life of poverty. Working at Kilmora, a 27-year old social enterprise based in Uttarakhand who work on livelihood support and income generation for small and marginal farmers, has helped her gain a modicum of financial security and stability over the recent years. After days of extreme rainfall, on the night of October 18th, 2021, Ramgarh was hit by a sudden flash flood that swept away one of Kilmora's units where the products were made. Together, Leela and Anamika Das, who heads Kilmora's agriculture vertical, tell us about their experience of what happened during the disaster and living in uncertain times, with a subtext that highlights the immediate need to build climate resilience in the mountain regions.

Having shifted from Delhi 12 years ago, Jitender Yadav lives a quiet life in the hills of Almora, Uttarakhand. In July 2022, he files a PIL in Uttarakhand HC, frustrated by the ubiquitousness of plastic, especially in a beautiful place like Uttarakhand where not only is there no solid waste management but also the problem is compounded by the geography and ecology of the region. The judges are responsive and considerate, they are passing great orders and things seem to be moving in the right direction. He hopes the firms responsible for plastic pollution will follow the EPR rules and will collect the waste back. He hopes there will be a scientific waste management protocol established all across Uttarakhand. Seeing the response from the court, authorities and villagers, he is quite hopeful that Uttarakhand will be a clean and green state and the trails and peaks will be there for everyone to enjoy, plastic free.

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