By Rajan Rawat, Simkot, Dec 28: The number of people deserting their home village here at Limi, known as the village lying across the Himalaya, has been on the rise for the past few years.

Lack of option of business in the village and the growing attraction of the locals to the urban areas has led the people to padlock their houses and migrate to the cities.

There are three villages in the Limi valley, Halji, Til and Jang, and many flock to Kathmandu every year leaving their ancestral home, said Rang Dol Tamang of Til village.

However, the number of people leaving Halji village is much less compared to the other two villages because Halji has 1200 years old monastery.

He said that many villagers who left the village for the sake of business and reached Kathmandu, New Delhi of India, Hong Kong of China, and the USA had not returned home, which resulted in an increase in the number of people deserting the villages.

Out of 67 households in Jang, 33 have migrated to Kathmandu, said Kunjok Tamang, a local. Out of 32 households, 12 have left Til village and out of 87, only 2 households have deserted Halji village, he added.

He said people were leaving their home village because there was much work and less income here and that animal husbandry was declining.

Moreover, youths also got fascinated by modern facilities and for this many youths were living in the capital city Kathmandu.

What is surprising here is the tradition that those who leave the village padlock their house and they can also not sell their land, ward chair of Namkha Rural Municipality ward -6 Paljor Tamang said. Those living in the village can utilize the land left in this way and once the true owners return, they can use it.

The existence and importance of Limi will be erased if the trend of migration is not checked, ward chair Tamang shared his concern.

Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, provincial assembly member of Karnali Province who represents this area, pointed at the need to link Limi village with a road network and provide access to electricity and means of communication so as to ensure that the people here enjoy the modern facility, and this will also help lessen the trend of migration.