Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 20: At least 16 persons were killed while 21 have been rescued after the landslide occurred at Irshalwadi village in Khalapur tehsil in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Thursday, the NDRF said.
“Due to heavy rainfall and the threat of further landslide in the dark, the rescue operation has been called off with consultation of local administration and will resume tomorrow morning. The final figure for today is 16 dead bodies recovered and 21 people rescued,” the NDRF said.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited Irshalwadi and said, “Inclement weather has been creating problems for air rescue operations.” NDRF teams had rushed to the site amid reports of at least 100 persons feared to be trapped, an official said.
NDRF said owing to heavy rainfall and the threat of further landslide in the dark, the rescue operation has been called off with consultation of Local Administration and will resume tomorrow morning.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve on Thursday demanded a survey of villages across mountain ranges in the State after at least 15 people were killed in a landslide in Raigad district. This survey should be done on a mission mode, he tweeted.
Danve said he reached the tribal village, located on a hill, after a climb and interacted with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force at the site. There is a need to learn from the Irshalwadi tragedy, he said on social media.
“There is an utmost need to carry out an audit of villages sitting on foothills in mountain ranges like Sahyadri and Satpuda and their geographical location. The villages that need relocation should be moved on priority,” he tweeted.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said governments will come and go but this work should not stop. “It should be done on a ‘mission’ mode so that no one loses their life like this (in Irshalwadi),” he tweeted.
Mumba’s civic body has sent equipment for rescue and relief operations in Irshalwadi, an official said. He said, acting on the directive of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had sent three Bobcat-make machines from its solid waste management department sites at Mahim, Juhu and Mulund.
These backhoe loaders, with greater manoeuvrability due to their small size, are being ferried by vehicles along with an earth-mover from the civic hydraulic department, he added. The Thane Municipal Corporation disaster management cell chief Yasin Tadvi said rescue teams and equipment have moved towards the site of the landslide in the early hours of the day.
More than 2,200 people have been evacuated as heavy rains created a flood-like situation in parts of Raigad with the downpour damaging at least 125 houses in the district. As a result of incessant rainfall, 17 out of 28 dams in Raigad are overflowing, the district administration said in a statement.
Several places in the district recorded more than 200 mm rainfall in 24 hours, it said.
Search and rescue personnel at the site of a massive landslide were facing hurdles due to the difficult hill terrain of the area where heavy equipment cannot be moved, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and officials at the site said on Thursday. A small approach road leading to hutments in the area has been slippery due to the rains, the official said, adding heavy machinery like earth-movers and excavators cannot be taken there.
Two helicopters have been kept ready for the rescue operation, but they cannot take-off until the weather is clear, the official said.
