The plateau, very long and not too wide, has three kinds of land ownership. First is the biggest of the three, the Forest Department which owns all the forested areas on the slopes on either side of the plateau and such areas being DAF (dedicated forest area), are simply no construction and no encroachment zone. The second is local populace that resides in the villages in the valleys and re-entrants below. They come up during rains and cultivate potatoes (pahari aloo) and green peas. The cultivation lasts for about quarter of the year and then they return back to their permanent homes. Only a few, basically poor and generally landless, stay back in their stone and slate huts (not luxurious kath-kuni kinds though). With younger generation drifting away from hard toil, quite a bit of land has been sold off to Horticulture and such like government departments (third agency) that have experimental and research farms there.
Government owned (sold by locals long ago) farms on either side of the track
Working huts made of stones and slates...minimal and basic: no frills!
With whatever land that remains, the major issue is the number of stakeholders of each piece of land. This being an asset that is used once a year and that requires toils and effort, the present ownership is a result of a few generations multiplying over the past century or so. Thus, plots as small as 50 square yards may be owned by six brothers or a family of ten adults. Such pieces of land, even if bigger in size, are simply not worth vying for. So many of them shall never agree on a point and like elsewhere, negotiating with them is simply impossible.
The next hurdle in land acquisition here is the fact that people simply don't sell their holdings or whatever is remaining as of date. Their main landed assets in the villages down below do get bought and sold regularly but this area being a bit remote and with minimal commercial value, doesn't offer lucrative deals to sellers. And then there are prestige issues attached to the ancestral property too!
Over many meetings with locals, I tried to drive home a logical point, ie, we would not buy but take land on lease. Further, whatever annual returns they get from any chunk of land at present, we shall offer an additional 25% and then increase the rental amount by 10% every year. In addition, whatever fixed assets would get created on the land, shall be left behind after the expiry of the lease. It took me a number of interactions and meetings and trips to that place to convince a few folks who had land free from the above issues (too many partners, size of land etc). But decision-making in mountains, like life in general, is slow and lacks the urgency that may exist everywhere else. Finally, I was able to cut the ice and this was the piece of land that I zeroed on and pushed in the most....
Who will not fall in love with this view!
By the time my man Friday, Anil Thakur was able to get a nod from the sole owner of the land, it was March 2017. I was, thus, called over to seal the deal immediately but I could not manage leave and by the time I finally reached the place, someone else had simply walked in and grabbed the land on lease and on same conditions that I had been proposing! Phew....the twist hit me hard and I was at loss for thought and words for a while.
The soldier, inside me, however, never gave up and I motivated Anil yet again to remain at it. Finally, by mid May 2017, this land, next to the earlier chunk, was offered to me....
Finally!
The hard work had paid off finally but I was faced with a problem of different kind! My initial plan was to construct stone and slate huts as per the local system but the land that I got finally - though it offered better views- was small, narrow and a bit elongated. Many brain storming sessions with friends in the field could not create a layout that was financially viable on such a piece of land. Investment was going to be high because of remoteness of the area and unless one had six to eight units, returns would not be able to sustain the business since working season is restricted to less than five months an year!
Finally, we had no option but to go vertical and that was how the plan was made. Goal posts do shift in life but focus has to remain at the right spot. While a multi-storeyed building may not have charm of a hut or cottage, the higher elevations threw up unmatched views from the better vantage points. So, that was it and we got down to work as the rains sounded their arrival.
continues!!
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