‘It would’ve taken over a month to clear debris’

NDRF team members dig through mud in search of survivors, at Irsalwadi village in Raigad

The bodies were beyond recognition and skin was peeling off, as we pulled them out of debris 48-72 hours after the landslide. This was one of the reasons the rescue operation was called off," recalled NDRF officer Santosh Bahadur Singh, who was heading the search at Irsalwadi village in Raigad.

It was one of the most challenging operations the team has ever conducted, said Singh, the commandant of 5th battalion (Maharashtra and Goa) of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The same team was involved in the rescue mission in Bhiwandi, where a two-storey building collapsed on April 29. Seven people were killed and many were trapped.

First call

The incident happened around 11.30 pm on July 19 and he received the intimation through a WhatsApp message on the district disaster management group a little past midnight, the commandant said.

"The location was about 80 km from our Regional Response Centres in Pune and Andheri West. We immediately dispatched two teams of 25 men each, and they reached the base by 4 am. Two additional teams of NDRF were sent. I, along with Deputy Commandant Deepak Tiwari and other officials, reached soon after. By then, the state disaster management team, the local administrative staff and police had also arrived."

"We were all clueless about the extent of damage, as unconfirmed information was that the entire village was under debris and there was a risk of another landslide, at the same spot, as it was raining very heavily. Somehow, around 5 am we started climbing the hill," recalled Singh.

First scene

"After climbing for over an hour and a half, we reached the fort and saw about 18 of the 40-plus houses were completely buried. We pulled out 27 bodies. But we had to completely call off the night operations, owing to risks due to incessant downpour," Singh said. The rescue personnel were coordinating with the base camp using satellite phones.

The challenges

"In the absence of a road, we climbed the steep hill with heavy equipment and portable machinery and cutters. It was difficult... At other collapse or landslide incidents, we deploy heavy machinery like excavators, but it was not possible at Irsalwadi... We also could not airlift heavy machineries due to bad weather," Singh said. "Gusty winds of 40-50 kmph and continuous downpour further caused hindrance," he added.

Rain hampering work

Singh said the operation was called off because the chances of finding survivors were bleak. "It would have taken over a month for us to manually clear all the debris, as heavy rain was constantly bringing down fresh muck to the affected site," Singh said.

July 19
Day the landslide struck the hamlet