Five years ago, Leela Sanwal died while being carried on a kandi, a stretcher borne by four men, along a mountain trail to the nearest hospital.

The 18-year-old Dumak resident had suffered a steep fall while collecting grass for her cattle.

The hospital closest to this remote village in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district is at Gopeshwar, 25km away. The first 7km along the route has no motorable road.

Many from Dumak, including pregnant women, the sick and the injured, have died for lack of urgent medical attention as road connectivity has stayed elusive despite years of appeals to the authorities.

Dumak, home to 84 families, has now decided to boycott elections if a road is not built up to the village.

The villagers have, under the aegis of the Vikash Sangharsh Samiti, been on a relay hunger strike against “the government’s apathy” since August 1.

“We don’t know why Dumak has been ignored in terms of road connectivity for so long,” said Samiti coordinator Premsingh Sanwal, 80. “In the future, we will boycott votes if the road is not built.”

The villagers first petitioned the authorities in 2008 for a road connecting Dumak to Gopeshwar and beyond.

Reports about sanctioned funds and official promises came and went, and surveys and re-surveys were conducted. A motorable road was built — but only up to Kalgot, a village 7.2km from Dumak on the way to Gopeshwar.

From Kalgot, the road is being diverted elsewhere, leaving Dumak in the lurch.

Most of the stretch between Kalgot and Dumak, which the kandi-bearers carrying the injured or the ill must negotiate, is a rugged trekking trail strewn with huge boulders. It runs beside frothing mountain streams and passes through forests full of wild animals.

The lack of roads does not just endanger the lives and livelihoods of the village’s cattle-grazing community, it poses a risk to the trekkers who pass through the village.

Dumak sits on one of the tougher routes of the Rudranath trek, starting from Urgam village.

Although the Rudranath trek route via Dumak sees fewer visitors compared with the more popular trail from Sagar village, many do make an overnight stop at Dumak en route to Rudranath from Kalpeshwar.

“If any untoward incident happens and a trekker gets critically wounded, as it has happened many times as trekkers negotiate the terrain, we don’t have any immediate way to transport the injured to hospital,” Samiti president Rajinder Singh said.

“Sometimes, we have had to call for a helicopter which, of course, costs a huge amount.”

Dumak, however, enjoys mobile connectivity, with at least two networks available and working fine.

Villager Manoj Sanwal, who runs a homestay for trekking enthusiasts, said sarcastically: “We may struggle to ferry patients across the treacherous terrain, but we can at least make a clear call for help — with the unrealistic assumption that help might come down the non-existent road.”

Joshimath sub-divisional magistrate Chandrasekhar Vashisht said “two motor roads are under construction” to connect Dumak.

“One road is being built from Kalgot, though works are due in terms of its alignment,” he said.

“Another road is being developed through the lower part of the terrain from Syun village. However, since this area falls within a landslide zone, a further survey is being conducted to finalise the route.”