Resettlement plan helps alleviate poverty in desert
Print Edition
Sheepherder Imin鈥檚 home is at the heart of the Taklimakan Desert, the second-largest shifting sand desert in the world.
For hundreds of years, Imin鈥檚 ancestors have settled along the Keriya River. Imin calls his township Darya Boyi, meaning 鈥渂y the big river鈥 and having 1,342 people.
Imin, 39, knows every curve of the river, which part is muddy and must be avoided, and where to find enough weed to feed his sheep. But now he has to find a balance between maintaining his bond with nature and carving out a future for his children.
Though the Keriya River has provided for the survival of Imin鈥檚 ancestors, the environment has become less hospitable with falling underground water levels and frequent sand storms.
鈥淭he river was usually flooded when I was young, but now, from July to September, it completely dries up,鈥 said Imin.
A resettlement plan is underway to move the residents south to the edge of the desert, where better housing, drinking water facilities and roads have been built.
The Yutian County government, which administers the town, started to draft plans for resettlement in 2016, said Tang Mingsheng, head of the county鈥檚 poverty-relief office.
In 2017, the first batch of 396 people, including 100 children, moved into the new settlement, about 110 kilometers from the old town.
鈥淭he children do not have to walk a long distance between home and school any more,鈥 said Eziz Tohti, headmaster of the new school at the settlement.
This year, another 443 people, including Imin, his wife and father, will move to the new town.
鈥淏efore choosing the site of relocation, we asked if the folks would like to live in the county seat in apartments but the folks prefer their new homes to be built closer to their old ones, where they can live the traditional way, such as herding sheep and harvesting desert plants,鈥 Tang said.
Tang and colleagues help young people find jobs and provide them with the necessary training. When people move out, the old town will still be open to people who want to herd there. The Yutian government plans to develop tourism in the area to help people improve livelihoods.
Yutian has 165 villages, among which 114 are in deep poverty.
Tang and other local officials are looking for ways to eliminate the determinants of poverty by resettlement, creating jobs, improving social welfare and providing training.
鈥淧overty reduction is a hard battle to fight but no one shall be left behind,鈥 Tang vowed.
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