Raigad landslide: Death toll rises to 24, several people yet to be traced

Khalapur/ Mumbai: Search and rescue teams on Saturday recovered two more bodies from the debris at the landslide-affected Irshalwadi village in Maharashtra's Raigad district, taking the death toll in the tragedy to 24.

Incessant rain continued to lash Irshalwadi for the second consecutive day, even as the hamlet was enveloped in fog with the first hint of stench beginning to exude from the bodies still buried under debris and slush.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other local bodies (see box) braved forces of nature, primarily low visibility, as they continued rescue operations. The administration sprayed a disinfectant to combat the foul odour.

The death toll on Friday escalated to 22 (from Thursday’s 16) as six other bodies were removed from the debris. According to Raigad district collector, Yogesh Mhase, 95 are yet to be traced. Some of them, he feels, could have gone away from the village on work.

NDRF commandant and spokesperson, S B Singh said the area was divided into sectors so that search parties could focus on the buried houses and reach victims fast. Of the 48 houses in the village, 17 were under debris, and 20 others damaged by the landslide, said district officials.

As NDRF and other government bodies became involved in the operation, local bodies took charge of coordination. The teams are liaising with relatives of the dead and guiding members of various government bodies arriving to the spot. They are also sourcing food for the survivors, who have been moved to makeshift homes provided by the state government.

As the village is at a considerable height – 5.5 km from the base -- with no motorable road, access proved to be a challenge. “We reached the spot on foot – not even a cycle can be used to reach the location. And in the absence of machines, we went about the task manually,” said Bhakti Sathelkar, a member of a Khopoli-based rescue organisation. Abhijit Gharat, a professional trekker from Khopoli, who has scaled Irshalgad fort at least 70 times, concurred. He said, “No amount of digging is yielding the desired result because of the downpour and the amount of mud that has fallen in the area.”

Four earthmovers have been on standby but could not be flown in by Indian Air Force helicopters, because each weighed over 2 tons and were too heavy to be airlifted, said the district collector.

Sathelkar said, as it was not possible to bring the bodies down for cremation, the deceased were buried in an open plot in the hamlet following Adivasi tradition. “The same system was followed even for the livestock found buried under the debris,” she added. Gharat said the number of bodies extricated from the debris as days go by will increase.

Even as hopes of finding survivors are diminishing Mhase said, search operations will continue “till the last person is retrieved”. “It is an emotional issue – there have been cases where life was found even after 48 hours of an incident. Until teams from NDRF say there is nothing more to be found, rescue work will go on manually,” he said. “Since we feel some villagers may have been away on work, a team of four officers have been stationed at Khalapur chowky to assist relatives trying to locate their loved ones outside the village.”

Deepak Tiwari, deputy commandant and spokesperson for NDRF said, “Wind velocity of about 40km is making it tough for teams to carry out the operations. Moreover they have to take care of their own safety as the site is still prone to landslides. The teams come down in the evening and again climb up next morning for over an hour to begin the operation.”

According to another official from district collectorate said, some houses are buried under 20 to 40 feet of sludge, “which leave very slim chances of those buried to emerge alive”.

“In rescue operations of building collapse, voids are created under the debris leaving room for people trapped to breathe at least for a few hours. Here, around 18 households are buried directly under heaps of stones and mud. The early access of mechanical equipment would have helped,” he said.

Sub divisional officer of Raigad, Ajit Nairale said it was tough to ascertain a the number of people still trapped. “We have prepared a list of residents and looking for information about them. We expect few people to come forward and tell us that they had been shifted elsewhere.”