08 August,2014 01:28 AM IST | | Niranjan Medhekar
The only road connecting them to the rest of the state was buried in the landslide; members of a Junnar-based organisation travelled 40 km to give food packets to 10 families
Malin Road
For nearly 10 days now, seven villages nestled in the hills ahead of Malin have lost their connection to the outside world as the only road linking them to the rest of the state was buried in the July 30 landslide.
Washed out: Debris being removed from the road yesterday. Pic/Niranjan Medhekar
Vijay Parundekar, who lives in Parunde village in Junnar taluka came to know about the villagers' plight a couple of days back. "Earlier this week, I received a call from a villager from Chinchewadi, which is located just one kilometre away from Malin. That villager had to travel 20 km to find a phone and inform me how seven villages in the area have lost all connectivity."
Do-gooders: Members of the Shriram Bhajan Mandal from Junnar, who trekked to the village yesterday. Pic/Niranjan Medhekar
Parundekar, who is the chairperson of Shriram Bhajan Mandal, a welfare organisation, then gathered nine people and travelled nearly 40 km to Chinchewadi to deliver food to the villagers yesterday. "We decided to ensure that we could at least get items like rice, flour and vegetables to them. Since the road was buried under debris, we had to trek for the last kilometre or so with the food packets on our backs," he added.
"We made packets of 35 kg per family, but in the absence of a road, it was very difficult to transport them. We have been able to reach 20 families in Chinchewadi, but the other villages are very far away. Since rescue operations at Malin have wound up, the government should now concentrate on these villages, which need immediate help," said Vinod Kachare, who helped deliver the packets.
Danger zone
Besides Chinchewadi, Pasarwadi, Undewadi, Potewadi, Lembhewadi, Koknewadi and Zanjrewadi are situated in a radius of 7 km from the landslide site. Like Malin, all these villages also have houses on hillocks and are landside prone. "The nearly 1,200 people who live in these villages need immediate attention and rehabilitation to avoid meeting the fate of Malin's villagers," said another member of the Mandal.
