12 killed in landslide at village in Maharashtra’s Raigad district; search and rescue ops on

MUMBAI — Twelve people were killed after a massive landslide at a village in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Thursday.

The landslide occurred around 11 pm on Wednesday at Irshalwadi village in Khalapur tehsil, around 80 km from Mumbai, an official said.

The incident took place after torrential rains in the area.

CM Shinde reached the site in the morning to take stock of the situation and spoke to personnel engaged in rescue operations.

“So far, 12 dead bodies have been recovered by search and rescue teams. As many as 103 people have been identified who were living there. Some of them were out for work in paddy fields and some children had gone to residential schools. Search for them is on,” he said.

The state government is making all efforts to carry out the rescue and relief operations in the area, he added.

“This village was not in the list of landslide-prone villages,” Shinde told reporters there.

“Our priority now is to rescue those still trapped beneath the rubble,” he said.

This is very unfortunate incident and the state government stands with the affected people, the CM said.

There is continuous heavy rainfall and the debris and rubble has mounted up to 15 to 20 feet, he said.

Shinde said authorities were not able to move the machinery for the rescue operation.

Two helicopters have been kept ready for the operation, but they have not been able to take-off due to the bad weather, he said.

On rehabilitation of the landslide-affected villagers, the CM said 50 to 60 containers have been arranged for them (as temporary shelters) and there was a plan to move them to a safer place.

“We will soon take steps to carry out proper rehabilitation of the landslide-affected villagers. I have spoken to the divisional commissioner and district collector and discussed about permanent rehabilitation of these villagers immediately. We are doing it on a war-footing,” Shinde said.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a statement said 48 families were living there.

“The medical expenditure of the injured persons will be borne by the state government. We will announce a proper compensation for the the kin of the deceased persons,” he said.

Four NDRF teams along with local authorities were engaged in the rescue work, an official said.

Fire brigade and some local trekkers were also helping in the rescue operation, he said.

The village has around 50 houses, of which 17 were buried under the landslide, the official said.

Rescue teams from neighbouring Thane were also sent to the spot, as per the authorities.

The village is six km from Morbe dam, which supplies water to Navi Mumbai. It is located near Irshalgad fortress located between Matheran and Panvel. The fortress is a sister fort to Prabalgad.

Irshalwadi is a tribal village inaccessible by pucca road. Chowk village on Mumbai-Pune Highway is the nearest town.

This is the biggest landslide in Maharashtra after the July 30, 2014 landslide at Malin village in Ambegaon tehsil of Pune district.

The massive landslide had swallowed up almost the entire tribal village of around 50 families. The final death toll was 153 when the rescue operation was stopped. Nothing of the old village remains except for its school building.