Amidst Climate-Induced (Im)Mobility: Field Insights from Jyotirmath, India
As climate disasters intensify in India, little is known about its effects on internal migration in regions like the Himalayas. In Jyotirmath, Uttarakhand, known as India’s “sinking town,” many people choose to stay despite ongoing disasters. Their decisions are shaped by deep cultural ties, economic struggles, and environmental pressures that reflect the complex realities of living on the edge of a changing climate.
India is experiencing an increase in the frequency of climate disasters, which has led to internal climate-induced migration. As only a few studies focus on how and why people migrate due to climate change in the mountainous areas of the world, I decided to focus my research on the Himalayas, which have a delicate ecosystem and are tectonically and seismically sensitive. Although the climate crises serve as the starting point for my study, it seems also necessary to take into consideration economic, political and social aspects given their interdependence.
Complex Dynamics of (Im)Mobility in Fragile Regions
One of my study sites, Jyotirmath Nagar Palika Parishad (Jyotirmath NPP from now onwards), is a small town in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, popularized as the sinking Himalayan town of India in 2023. Although the common narrative describes forced mobility as the norm, I observed immobility as the main choice among local communities. Using an ethnographic study, I examined the internal and external motivations behind (im)mobility decisions to paint a comprehensive picture of human movements in the face of severe and ongoing environmental challenges.
Human movement due to climate change is a harsh reality of the 21st century. It becomes essential to record these movements to educate policymaking and to highlight newly developing migration trends and patterns. With an increasing frequency each year, Uttarakhand is a hotspot for climate disasters such as landslides, cloudbursts, flash floods, GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods), and ground subsidence. Early in 2023, there were several reports that Jyotirmath NPP was sinking due to ground subsidence, which also caused severe landslides in the area.
This phenomenon was triggered by natural factors (Jyotirmath NPP is based on a glacial moraine with high mass movement apart from being situated on a geological fault line). It was further exacerbated by man-made activities (unplanned construction and hydel power activities). Despite reports of people moving to nearby towns, some also chose to stay back or come back to their homes after a few months, which was particularly interesting to me. Often, we ignore the possibility that climate change could result in immobility because of the dominant mobility bias outlook. My objective in conducting this fieldwork was to provide an accurate representation of the situation, which remained obscure even after several months had passed. 
Sinking road in front of a house in Jyotirmath NPP. Source: Photo taken by the author during fieldwork in April 2024.
Looming Uncertainties
In this small community, daily life is still precarious. Residents frequently worry about the next disaster or heavy rains that can result in landslides and further damage to their homes. I have learned from my interactions with the locals that, despite the extreme instability of the situation, they have only implemented a few adaptive measures relating to their way of life and livelihoods thus far. There are not many possibilities for living at this altitude in the Himalayas, and locals are still attempting to comprehend and adapt to the changing climate and its effects.
The issue of moving or staying back is at a huge standstill due to the disparities in viewpoints held by both governing agencies and residents. Repeated efforts for planned rehabilitation have been largely unsuccessful due to the reluctance of the residents as well as the objection from the migrant-receiving community. Those with the financial and social resources to relocate permanently moved to cities on the plains like Dehradun and Haridwar post-disasters. Such a movement was greatly aided by pre-existing social networks.
Despite uncertain lives and livelihoods, the strong place-based attachment of the residents of Jyotirmath NPP is the main source of their immobility decisions, regardless of their class, caste, or social status. This is because the Hindu community worldwide (also the majority population in Jyotirmath NPP) invariably attaches enormous cultural and religious significance to this town. The residents take great pride in identifying themselves and consider themselves as the “chosen ones” (“humne yaha yun hi to janam nahi liya hoga”: we must not have been born here just like that).
Insides of houses impacted by landslides and ground subsidence. People continue to live inside these houses. Source: Photos taken by the author during fieldwork in April 2024.
Is (Im)Mobility Caused by Climate Change Real?
The residents do not believe in climate-induced (im)mobility, despite their belief in climate change, according to their opinions of the phenomena. Locals claim that out-migration from Uttarakhand has a long history, particularly from the hilly districts to the plains or to neighboring towns and cities in other states, mostly in search of work, quality healthcare and education.
I noticed that environmental concerns are still not adequately considered in the daily negotiations between the government and the people. This is crucial to ending the current deadlock and re-establishing the area’s socio-ecological balance. The goal of understanding local perspectives on climate-induced (im)mobility was to determine whether this concept is merely being studied in the academic community or if it is actually happening on the ground and how it is being reflected in climate change policies.
Gaps and Way Forward?
The administration and the people of Jyotirmath NPP must pay equal attention to the situation, which is still highly volatile. Due to their familiarity with the area and closer observation of everyday environmental changes, locals may have more agency in the pre- as well as post-disaster policy-making process. Policies in these circumstances need to be formulated promptly and made publicly available in an open manner. If not, locals may get increasingly worried because of the governing organization’s lack of a clear vision for the future of the area.
A comprehensive policy on future remedial actions is required to stop the current environmental crises and give the locals some hope. According to my conversations with the residents of Jyotirmath NPP, they will largely stay immobile. Hence, it is important to develop alternate sources of income that will quickly address their financial issues. Also, in the worst-case scenario, which is probable in an environment that is gradually deteriorating, residents may have to be prepared to accept migration as an adaptive strategy.
Tulika Bourai is a PhD candidate in Development Studies at BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, India. Her research looks at the current climate crises in the Himalayas and people’s mobility and immobility choices under a resource-constrained scenario. She aims to provide a holistic picture of the migration system by analyzing both formal and informal processes influencing people’s decisions. This blog post is based on Tulika Bourai’s work selected to participate in the Neuchâtel Graduate Conference 2024.
Acknowledgment: I am grateful to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Sailaja Nandigama (BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus) and my co-supervisor, Dr. Aviram Sharma (University of Vigo, Spain), for their insightful feedback that helped to refine my work.
