Maharashtra: Death toll rises to 18 at Irshalwadi landslide

Update (July 21, 4:30 pm): As search operations continued for the second day in Irshalwadi landslide in Raigad district of Maharashtra, NDRF teams have found two more bodies from the debris, taking the toll to 18. Both the deceased are women.

The NDRF teams resumed the search operation at around 6:30 am on Friday morning amid rainfall in the area after suspending the exercise overnight. According to the sources, the local villagers are also helping out the rescue teams during the search operations.

Maharashtra: 16 killed at Irshalwadi landslide, rescue operations on

The rescue and search operation at Irshalwadi in Maharashtra’s Raigad district is on for the second consecutive day, where a massive landslide buried several houses and claimed the lives of at least 16 people so far.

According to the information, the landslide took place at around 11 pm on Wednesday at the tribal village, situated on a hill slope, under Khalapur tehsil of the coastal district, around 80 km from Mumbai. Of the total 228 residents of the village, 93 residents have been traced, while the bodies of 16 have been recovered so far. However, a total of 119 villagers are yet to be traced.

The officials of the NDRF informed that the incident happened due to the heavy rainfall in the area. Apart from this, the relief materials like food packets, sheets-blankets, temporary shelters, containers, water bottles, torches, biscuits, and first aid materials have started for the local villagers as well as the manpower deployed for relief work.

Message from Maharashtra CMO

After the massive landslide in Raigah district, the CMO of Maharashtra tweeted, “Chief Minister Eknath Shinde‘s appeal is getting a positive response from industries and NGOs in Raigad district. Inflow of relief materials like food packets, sheets-blankets, temporary shelters, containers, water bottles, torches, biscuits and first aid materials have started for the local villagers as well as the manpower deployed for relief work. 6 containers namely 4 of 20×10 size, 2 of 40×10 size and two others have been dispatched from Uran, JNPT, Ratnagiri MIDC and JSW Group to the base camp at the spot.”

Adding to it, “A temporary shelter arrangement is being made on behalf of the administration at Chowk, Khalapur. After the appeal made by the Chief Minister, three thousand food packets have been made available. A team of 80 experienced artisans from Panvel has reached the site with tools to remove the soil debris as the site is at a height and the machinery cannot reach it.”