From kids to the elderly, they pick up the pieces after families wiped out

The July 19 landslide in Irsalwadi village has orphaned 12 children and snatched the entire families of four senior citizens The loss has taken a toll on their mental health said doctors sent for their care adding that they are undergoing treatment for depression Some of these children have not uttered a word or reacted to the news of their parentsrsquo deaths they addedThe landslide wiped out an entire village on the night of July 19 when most villagers had gone to bed The rescue personnel despite numerous challenges were able to pull out 27 bodies However they could not find the bodies of 57 residents of Irsalwadi village in Khalapur taluka of Raigad districtThe girls all minors were at boarding school when the landslide buried their entire family right A 62yearold holds the photos of her husband and son whose bodies could not be retrievedThe orphaned children and a senior citizen midday spoke to are among those whose families are still buried deep beneath mud boulders and debris of their own houses As they struggle to deal with the sudden loss of their loved ones the district administration is trying to help get them back on their feetAt the camps set up for the rescued and displaced villagers the district administration has set up a firstaid centre and deployed a team of 44 medical officers doctors nurses compounders and ASHA Accredited Social Health Activists workers The temporary camp has been named Anganwadi village and it currently has 132 residents said officialsThirteenyearold twin sisters and their 15yearold brother are the only survivors in their familySpeaking to midday Dr Ashlesha Ovhal said ldquoWe have currentlyidentified 12 children and four senior citizens who are suffering from depression due to the loss of their family in the landslide Many of them are not interacting with others They are not even talking about their painrdquo Bhagwan Yashvant Nirgude supervisor of the firstaid centre said ldquoWe are holding counselling sessions for the children as well as the senior citizens between 9 am and 5 pmldquoWe are also trying to help them find hobbies and interests Some children have expressed their interest in stitching work and we have promised them that we will provide them with the machines Some children are interested in farming for which we plan to provide them with education so that they can work smartly and independentlyrdquo Nirgude addedOrphaned twins brotherThirteenyearold twin sisters are among those receiving treatment for depression The girls both Std VIII students were in their boarding school an institution for tribals in Chikhale village when the landslide occurred It was a Wednesday night They used to visit home every weekendASHA workers Pushpa Anil Prabalkar Salini Nitin Durge and Sister Tejashree More Dr Ashlesha Ovhal supervisor Bhagwan Yashvant Nirgude are part of rehabilitation teamTheir 15yearold brother survived as he and his friends were at the school in their hamlet which was untouched by the landslide ldquoOnly the three of us are alive now We lost our entire family in the landslide including our parents and two sisters Their bodies have not been foundrdquo one of the sisters told middayHusband son missingA 62yearold woman has not seen the bodies of her 65yearold husband and their 25yearold son since the landslide She told midday that she had gone down the hillock to work in the rice field that day and stayed at her relativersquos in Nanivali villageldquoAround 5 pm on July 19 I cooked dinner for my husband and my son and then went down to work on the farm Due to heavy rain I decided to stay at my relatives house Around 11 pm I received a call from a relative that a landslide had hit our village All of us at Nanivali ran up the hillock to Irsalwadi but everything had been buried under the rubble The entire village was destroyed I tried finding my husband and my son but I couldnrsquot even reach my home Neither of them has been foundrdquo said the elderly woman who is also being treated for depressionBrother to take care ofWith their parents missing since the landslide a 20yearold man now has his 16yearold brother to take care of Both of them are undergoing counselling The younger brother has stopped speaking to others ldquoAfter dinner I went to the school in Irsalwadi with my friends We were playing games on our mobile phones when the landslide hit our homes This school was the only structure that was not swallowed by the landslide My younger brother was in boarding school With our parents gone only two of us are left in the family nowrdquoTwo brothers are the only ones alive after the deaths of their parentsThree young girls orphanedThree sisters aged 4 7 and 12 years are struggling to cope with the loss of their parents grandfather uncle and aunt All three of them are being counselled at the shelter ldquoNo one in our family is alive now We were in school when we were informed about the landslide When we reached our village there was nothing We were told that our parents uncle aunt and grandfather were trapped under the rubble and they diedrdquo said the 12yearold girl57No of villagers still missing