# Kerala’s Kumbanad villages empty as migrant families settle overseas 2026-08-07T03:45:23+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Kumbanad and nearby villages in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district are losing residents as successive generations of migrant families choose to build lives abroad. The Hindu reports that Koipuram Government Higher Secondary School’s enrolment has fallen from nearly 2,500 students two decades ago to around 80, while an anganwadi in Ward 12 has 11 children. Large houses built with overseas earnings now stand vacant or are being sold. Older residents describe ageing neighbourhoods, closed shops and shrinking populations. Pathanamthitta’s migration moved from other parts of India to the Gulf and later to the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. The remittance-fuelled prosperity that transformed the region has not prevented its villages from emptying. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: demography, Kerala, migration, Pathanamthitta, remittances Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/keralas-kumbanad-villages-empty-as-migrant-families-settle-overseas/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/keralas-kumbanad-villages-empty-as-migrant-families-settle-overseas/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.