Mahad marooned: Villagers furious at district administration for sending help too late

An NDRF team removes a body from a landslide-hit area in Ratnagiri on Friday afternoon

In Mahad tehsil of Raigad district, lashing rain all of Thursday evening left residents marooned in 10 to 15 feet of water and cut off from the world with no power and mobile network. Among the worst-affected villages in Mahad was Taliye, where a landslide on Thursday killed 36 people. More villagers were feared trapped.

By Friday afternoon, residents from nearby villages rushed to Taliye, only to find most houses buried under mud and rocks. They managed to pull out around 30 locals, but they were all dead. They couldn't continue the search further, as they did not have the required equipment or training," said an activist from a neighbouring village who did not wish to be named.

Locals furious with admin

Residents across Mahad are furious by the lack of support from the district administration, whom they have blamed for the delay in sending the rescue teams. The first NDRF team reached Taliye only by Friday afternoon. By the time of going to press, a total of 36 bodies had been recovered from Taliye and rescue operation was underway as more were feared trapped.

Several houses at a village in Mahad are submerged in floodwater following incessant rainfall since Thursday evening; an aerial view of a completely inundated region in Ratnagiri district taken on Thursday evening; Indian Air Force carries out rescue operation in Ratnagiri

"This flooding in Mahad is worse than that of 2005. We had no prior warning that the water would rise to such a level. If the district administration knew, why didn't it move people out in advance. We have lost everything, our homes and belongings destroyed within seconds," the activist said.

What caused flooding?

Mahad is located at the southernmost tip of Raigad district in Konkan region, and Savitri river flows through the tehsil.

With heavy rain lashing Mahabaleshwar for the past few days, water level in the already overflowing Savitri river was rising consistently. The incessant rainfall coupled with high tide in the river led to the flooding in Mahad, explained a district official.

Priyanka Kamble, tehsildar of Mangaon, a taluka close to Mahad, said, "The mobile network and power supply in Mahad and other nearby affected areas have been affected badly, hence we are not able to get information fast. We are sending our staff to the affected areas. So far 36 bodies have been removed from Taliye, and now the biggest challenge is to provide relief, food and drinking water to the affected areas. It has started raining again, hampering rescue operations."

When asked about Covid-19 affected people in Mahad, Kamble said, "Three patients were shifted to Mangaon for better treatment a few days ago, and a handful of other patients were moved to a Covid centre at a higher altitude near Mahad. However, there were a few asymptomatic patients in home quarantine."

Downpour for next 48 hrs

District Collector Nidhi Choudhary was not reachable for comment. Sources linked to her office said, "It's raining again in Mahabaleshwar. A few connecting roads are open, but floodwater hasn't fully receded. Rescue teams are on standby, anticipating the water level to increase further. The weather department has already announced a spell of heavy to very heavy rainfall for Raigad and neighbouring areas for the next 48 hours."

"Our priority is to carry out rescue and relief work on war footing... The administration would pay compensation as per the disaster management norms." Anupam Srivastava, commandant, NDRF Pune, is monitoring the rescue operation from the command headquarter. He was not available for comment.

Road connectivity hit

An NDRF official said, "At this point, 18 NDRF team (47 personnel in each team) are deployed in various flood-affected areas of Maharashtra, including Kolhapur, Sangli, Palghar, Thane, Ratnagiri, Mahad, Raigad districts. Eight additional teams from Odisha have been airlifted and four teams have already landed in Pune. Four more teams are likely to join soon. Two teams each are deployed in Raigad and Ratnagiri districts. They will get two additional teams each."

Speaking about the challenges on the ground, the official said, "Landslides and flooding have impacted road connectivity. Floodwater is not receding due to frequent spells of heavy rainfall. Power supply and mobile networks are down, and even our radio operators are finding it difficult to restore communication with us."

Meanwhile, the Air Force, the Navy and the Coast Guard, too, have pressed their helicopters to provide aerial support.

Landslides in other districts

NDRF sources told mid-day that another landslide has damaged six-seven houses in Khosre Khurd village, Khed, Ratnagiri. An NDRF team has recovered three dead bodies and rescued 14 people trapped under the debris. Search operation was on till the time of going to press.

Meanwhile, another NDRF team was sent to Madgaon village in Satara where 265 people were trapped following a landslide. The team rescued 255 people, but 10 others are still feared to be buried under heavy debris. Additional manpower has been called, said an NDRF official.

18
No. of NDRF teams deployed in flood-hit areas of state

02
No. of NDRF teams Raigad will get

48
No. of hrs rain will continue in Raigad