‘My brother and 5 kids are under the mud fall. We had no time to act’

By Faizan Khan Shirish Vaktania and Apoorva AgasheThe traumatised survivors of a landslide at Irsalwadi village in Raigad district on Wednesday night which claimed 16 lives opened up about the hellish events they witnessed Around 1030 pm a loud rumble roused the villagers who were fast asleep They rushed to open their doors only to see trees collapsing and houses being swallowed by massive waves of mud Those fortunate to escape sought refuge on open farmland for the night enduring heavy rainfall as they waited for helpThe village is nestled in the hills and completely cut off from the main road making it a daunting task to reach the location Rescue teams of the National Disaster Response Force NDRF and other relief organisations must undertake a treacherous twohour trek up a hill amid the relentless rains before they can reach the disaster site which is two hours away from a motorable road and is now covered by about 20 feet of debrisRamesh PardeThe settlement comprises 48 houses accommodating an equal number of families with an estimated population of 234 The village of Namreshwadi situated at the base of the hill is home to relatives of Irsalwadirsquos residents The majority of the rescue teams have set up their base camp at Namreshwadi while survivors who sustained minor injuries are being provided shelter and care in the villagelsquoNo time to save loved onesrsquoBhumi Parde 35 said ldquoI was suddenly woken up by relatives who begged me to leave the village immediately as heavy rains had triggered a landslide The hills gave way and trees were crashing down trapping most of the houses under mud It was a horrifying sight and we had no time to alert our other relatives who were just a few metres away Their homes collapsed right before our eyes and echoes of screams rent the air making everything even more horrifyingrdquoRelatives of the landslide victims near Irsalwadi in Raigad district PicsSatej ShindeShe added ldquoMy husband and I hurriedly sought refuge on open farmland but the rains refused to let up We could hear people in distress but there was little we could do at that momentrdquo Another village is located on the opposite side of the mountain and incredibly someone from our village managed to reach it after walking for about four kilometres They reached the neighbouring village in about an hour and help finally arrived at approximately 1230 pm The whole experience was truly frightening and we are grateful for the help that eventually reached usrdquolsquo8 family members trappedrsquoRamesh Parde Bhumirsquos husband said the couple couldnrsquot sleep a wink and was clinging to the hope that their family members would survive ldquoEight members of my family are trapped in the debris and our prayers are with them Of my siblings three of us managed to survive but my elder brother and his entire family including his three girls and two boys are trapped under the wreckage Last night we attempted to warn them but it was too late Mud flowed down from both sides of the mountains and trees were collapsing leaving us with no time to reactrdquoRamesh saidSurvivor Bhumi Parde right Ragee Parde left who managed to escape with her husband daughter daughterinlaw and her fatherldquoEverything we had lies buried and all we can do is hope and pray for the survival of our family members We are emptyhanded now and rely on the government to provide us with shelter and support during this difficult timerdquo he addedlsquoCouldnrsquot reach spotrsquoNamreshwadi resident Mangri Lachka 40 said ldquoMost of my relatives from my husbandrsquos side of the family live in Irsalwadi and we have not received any communication from them since morning Seven family members are feared trapped under mud Irsalwadi is entirely isolated and one must undertake a challenging 34hour climb through the hills to reach there We learned about the incident around 1230 am when it was pitch dark making it impossible for us to get there and assess the situationrdquoThe Lachka family and right Namreshwadi resident Mangri Lachka who is awaiting news of seven family members of her family PicsFaizan KhanMangrirsquos kin which are feared trapped include Bamujaytula his wife Sangi and their daughter Devki Wagh and her son ShedarDarti Lachka another Namreshwadi local who is in her sixties with a heavy heart said ldquoMy 40yearold son along with his wife and five children resided in Irsarwadi I used to visit them once a month but now they are all trapped inside and I havenrsquot received any news about them We donrsquot even have pictures of them to aid the searchers My heart is bleeding and I feel lost not knowing where to turn All I can do is pray to God and desperately hope for the safety and survival of my son and his entire familyrdquoRagee Parde an Irsalwadi resident said ldquoI was at home awake due to the heavy downpour and power outage I heard some noises but I assumed it was just the rain Suddenly my daughterrsquos fatherinlaw arrived urgently instructing us to wake everyone and evacuate immediately When I looked outside it was a nightmare come true Every house was buried under mud Only a part of our house survived and I managed to escape with my husband daughter daughterinlaw and her father However 11 members of our extended family are trapped and we have received no news about them so farShe added ldquoWe took refuge in our house overnight but in the morning we had to leave as the mud flow was inching closer threatening to trap us too Now we have nowhere to go and the continuous mudfall poses a serious threat to the rest of our houserdquo Radhirama Pardhe another survivor said ldquoWhile five members of my family were asleep the roof of our house collapsed burying them partially under mud and debris Two children were trapped in the debris but somehow the elders managed to rescue themselves and bravely dug through the debris to save the kidsrdquoThe family eventually managed to escape around 1130 pm and sought refuge on farmland Radhirama said that the previous night everything seemed normal despite the heavy downpour The family said they were fortunate that the mud flowing from the hills took time to reach their residence which was situated near the entrance of the village Nonetheless their house collapsed and several of their relatives were trapped under 15 to 20feetdeep mudYouth rescues kinParshuram Nirguda 27 a resident of the neighbouring Parose village managed to save three relatives after being informed about the landslideldquoI received a call around 1145 pm and was told that the village had been devastated I panicked as my relatives reside there Nine people and I climbed the hill When we reached the spot it was pitch black but we had torches Nothing was left of the village We could hear people screaming ldquoMala vachva mala vachva save me save me Hence we decided to form two rescue groups One group located a relative Pravin Pardhi 21 who was trapped under rubble The other rescued another relative Yashwant Dhore 35 Yashwantrsquos wife Kavita was also eventually saved Pravin and Yashwant were taken to a primary health care centre but they were later shifted to MGM hospitalKavita sustained minor injuries on her leg ldquoPravin Pardhi has a head injury while Yashwant sustained injuries on the hip and has fractured his leg They are stable and will be discharged on examinationrdquo a hospital source said Pravinrsquos family are feared to be struck under debrisNDRFSpeakThe NDRF in a statement said ldquoOwning to continuous and heavy rainfall plus the threat of further landslides in the dark the operation has been called off just now at 530 pm after consulting with the local administration and will resume tomorrow on Friday at 5 amrdquo1030 PMTime landslide occurred on Wednesday234Population of IrsalwadiFire officer dies during rescueA 50yearold fire brigade officer Shivram Dhumne lost his life while attempting to rescue people trapped in the debris of the landslide at Irsalwadi village The incident occurred around 2 am to 215 am when officer Dhumne and Chief Purushottam Jadhav of Belapur fire brigade station were dispatched to Irsalwadi for the rescue Despite facing challenges during their climb such as multiple slips the team remained determined to reach the locationJadhav said ldquoWe slipped multiple times during the climb yet managed to walk a few kilometres Suddenly Dhumne started having severe chest pain and collapsed We gave him CPR but it didnrsquot workrdquoldquoThen 810 officers with the help of a stretcher brought him down He was declared dead at the hospitalrdquo Jadhav added