Raigad landslide: Would a road have helped save more lives in Irsalwadi?

In 2020 the then district collector directed local officials to survey and build roads to all tribal hamlets on hillocks in Raigad according to Santosh Thakur a social worker Had they abided by this order many more villagers could have been pulled out of debris alive in Irsalwadi as rescue vehicles would have reached them in time he said Now at least 23 hamlets are at the same risk as landslidehit Irsalwadi he addedThakur and other local tribal activists too have blamed the local district administrations gram panchayats zilla parishads forest tribal development and revenue departments for their failure to act on a direction from then district collector Nidhi Choudhary in 2020lsquoThe letter was clearrsquoChoudhary in her letter dated September 15 2020 had written to the block development officers BDOrsquos of all 15 tehsils including Khalapur for construction of roads to all the hamlets under the Schedule Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Recognition of Forest Rights Act 2006Karambeli Thakurwadi village located on a hill has around 86 houses and a population of 647 people PicsSantosh GhateShe had asked the BDOs to provide a list of tribal hamlets that donrsquot have any road and of those passing through the forest land and mentioned that permission for construction of roads be obtainedldquoThe letter clearly states that not a single hamlet should be left out and that the talathi an employee of the land revenue department should provide all the documents and work should be done immediately But no one knows the status of the letter now Had any action been taken on her letter these hamlets would have been connected to roads and the emergency rescue team could have reached Irsalwadi within no time and many lives could have been savedrdquo said Thakur 46In the landslidehit Irsalwadi rescue teams are climbing daily to search for the villagers buried deep under debris and mud as there is no connectivity for heavy machines like an excavator to go up 5 kmThe view from Karambeli Thakurwadi which does not have any road connectivityActivists have demanded a highlevel probe against the officials who ignored the collectorrsquos direction for dereliction of duty They also want the state government to now take over the task of providing proper connectivity to 685 tribal hamlets in Raigad district at the earliest Hamlets with no roadsldquoThe entire district has 685 tribal hamlets and 125 of these donrsquot have road connectivity In Khalapur taluka nearly 23 tribal hamlets located within a radius of 1215 km of Irsalwadi are almost 300 feet to 400 feet above ground level Any disaster like a landslide can strike them at any timerdquo said Thakur the founderpresident of Gram Sanvardhan Samajik Sansthamdashan NGO that works to uplift the living conditions of tribal communities in RaigadAmong the 23 hamlets Karambeli Thakurwadi and Khadai Dhangarwada are the most vulnerable Nearly 647 people live in 86odd huts in Karambeli Thakurwadi while Khadai Dhangarwada has a population of around 200 people living in 35plus houses ldquoThese hamlets are nestled on top of hills and if there is any accident it wonrsquot be possble to take rescue machinery and heavy equipment thererdquo Thakur saidKhadai Dhangarwada in Khalapur talukaSantosh Ghate who lives in Khadai Dhangarwada said ldquoThe only way to reach our village is by foot We have no road connection no potable drinking water even though our hamlet has existed for the past 200 years No government has helped us ever Our fate will be the same as those in Irsalwadi if therersquos ever a disaster in our hamletldquoEven now in case of emergencies like snake bites or scorpion bites by the time we bring the victims down to the main road itrsquos too late sometimes We have not been able to save somerdquo he added ldquoVillagers spent a sleepless night on July 19 when a landslide swallowed Irsalwadi We feared a repeat of devastation during cyclone Nisarga June 2020 when the tin sheets of villagersrsquo houses were blown awayrdquo he saidGhate blames the ldquoquarrying work at the foothills of these mountainsrdquo for an ldquoincrease in cases of landslides during monsoon as the blasting weakens the entire foundationrdquoHe said the villagers are willing to move if the government rehabilitates themGhate treks up and down his village to earn a measly salary of R10000 working as a driver in Khopoli He has a family of five to look after including his wife three children and his aged mother ldquoMost villagers work as daily wagers after basic farming during monsoonrdquo he saidNo one listensAccording to Thakur they have been holding regular protest rallies to various governmentrun offices but they only get false assurances and promisesldquoI had put in a request for road for these tribal hamlets and had met Guardian Minister Uday Samant in 2019 He assured to provide all assistance and agreed to have a meeting with the tribals But that promised meeting was never heldrdquoCollective system failureAdvocate Siddharth Ingle who has been taking up tribalsrsquo issues and fighting for their rights said ldquoIt is collective system failure and it is high time that those responsible for not having adhered to the former collectorrsquos letter are held responsible for the Irsalwadi tragedy The status of the proposals for roads in tribal areas of Raigad district is still unknown This is happening right under the nose of the Tribal Welfare Ministry which is supposed to work for the betterment of the tribal communityrdquoldquoWe have made numerous representations on behalf of these tribals but no bureaucrat or minister has ever bothered to even hear them Today ministers and seniormost bureaucrats are lining up at Irsalwadi where the tragedy could have been avoided if only they heard the plea of these tribals earlier and fulfilled their basic need of road Statements on rehabilitation of these tribals without a deadline or ground work are nothing but false promisesrdquolsquoTakes timersquoldquoMany proposals were put forward by the then collector Nidhi Choudhary especially those related to tribal welfare and landslide issues and for connecting all the tribal hamlets in Raigad district to motorable roads But we must also understand that land procurement in forest lands take extensive permissions from the forest department and this is usually timeconsumingrdquo said a senior bureaucrat who has worked in Raigad in the past requesting anonymitySept 15Day in 2020 the then DC wrote the letter