Raigad: The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has finally called off its search-and-rescue operation in Wednesday’s landslide in Irshalwadi in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, State Minister Uday Samant said on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference, Samant, who is Guardian Minister of Raigad, said the decision was taken in consultation with the district administration and other concerned authorities as well as local residents.
So far, 27 bodies have been recovered while 57 are untraceable, officials said, adding that no body was found from the debris on Sunday. These include 12 men, 10 women and four children, while one corpse has not been identified as yet, they added.
At least 17 of 48 houses in the remote tribal village, which is at least an hour away from a motorable road, were fully or partially buried in the landslide that took place around 10:30pm on July 19.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other agencies resumed the search and rescue operation for the fourth day on Sunday at Irshalwadi, some 80 kilometres from Mumbai, after calling it off the previous evening due to darkness and inclement weather.
After four days, the search and rescue operation at the landslide-hit Irshalwadi village in Raigad district has been called off with 27 bodies found and 57 declared untraced.
The district authorities have also imposed Section 144 in the place, prohibiting anyone from going to the village destroyed by the landslide that struck late night on July 19. While 43 families were affected in the incident, 22 children have lost their parents due to the landslide.
While rescue personnel, including officials of the National Disaster Rescue Force, were at Irshalwadi till 5.30 pm Sunday, the decision to call off the operation from Monday was taken after a meeting by the local administration.
Samant said that the authorities considered the unidentifiable condition in which the last body was found on Saturday and hence a decision was taken to call off the search, with the consent of surviving family members.
The district officials have also imposed orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code that will be in effect till August 6. Samant said that this prohibition will be applicable to trekkers and tourists who visit the Irshalgad fort, near Irshalwadi village.
Samant said that based on the data available with the local administration, the population of the village was 228. After the landslide, 144 persons were counted as rescued or not present at the village during the landslide. He said that 27 bodies were found in the past four days and hence 57 can be considered missing.
“We have verified with the surviving family members and other relatives of those living in the village. It can be said that 57 persons remain untraced and it is likely that they are buried under the debris,” Samant said. He added that two of the 43 families had no survivors.
On Sunday, those rescued from the village were shifted from a local school to a temple near Chouk. Samant said that a place near Diamond Petrol Pump was identified to set up containers for the temporary rehabilitation of those rescued, while clothes and food were being provided to those rescued. He added that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had a discussion with officials of City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and that the town planning authority will be in-charge of the rehabilitation of the 144 Irshalwadi residents by building them homes.
