A year on, Irsalwadi survivors seek to be on firm ground

The rehabilitation homes which were promised to be constructed within 90 days of the accident, are still under-construction.

A year after Irsalwadi, a tranquil village near Khalapur in Raigad, was wiped off the face of Earth, the survivors still await homes, which were supposed to be ready within 90 days as per the then chief minister' assurance. As July 19, marks the first anniversary of the tragedy which claimed 84 lives, only 33 out of 44 tenements are almost ready to occupy, while finishing works in remaining houses are still underway. This raises concerns about effective disaster rehabilitation in a time bound manner. The district administration felt that the work would be completed by July 31 and hoped that the handing over of house keys may happen on August 15 in the presence of the Chief Minister.

Irsalwadi Rehabilitation site

The state government had approved and allotted 6.5 acres of land in Survey 27, Manivali village, Chouk Panchayat of Khalapur for rehabilitation of Irsalwadi landslide survivors. The spot is approximately 1 km from the original Irsalwadi village, at the foothills of Irsalwadi fort.

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC), the planning authority for the said land in Manivali village, approved the Development Plan on August 8, 2023 and sent the much-required layout plan of the proposed site for construction to the collector, Raigad.

New houses being constructed for Irsalwadi survivors are almost complete.

Forty four homes were to be constructed under the supervision of sole nodal agency CIDCO. Each survivor would have been entitled to a one BHK self-contained dwelling, constructed using RCC protection spread on 3 gunthas (approximately 3,267 sq ft) of land, said a senior official from the district.

Unlike Taliye Varcha Aawad in Mahad landslide rehabilitation, work which had multiple agencies leading to interdependence. For instance, MHADA Konkan Board was only involved with the construction of homes, whereas the utility and infrastructure, including setting up of Anganwadi, School, community temple, internal roads, water connection, water storage tanks, sewage and sanitation, electric power connection, etc., were to be provided by zilla parishad, irrigation department and MSEDCL, etc. But in the case of Irsalwadi, CIDCO will be the sole nodal agency, said the official.

Work almost complete

"We have completed almost 90% of the work, out of 44 tenements, 35 tenements are complete, while minor works are left in the remaining tenements that will also be ready soon. We have already allotted the houses to the survivors," said Raigad district Collector Kishan Jawale.

He said, "We are anticipating the entire work to be completed by July 31 and handing over of the keys may happen anytime, thereafter, on the availability of the state ministers."

And on being asked if the date could be August 15, the collector replied "may be".

The layout sanctioned by MSRDC for the construction of homes for survivors of Irsalwadi.

Condolence programme to mark first anniversary

As a mark of respect to remember the victims of Irsalwadi landslide the district administration has organised a condolence programme on Friday.

Khalapur tehsildar Ayub Tamboli said, "We have arranged for a small Shradhanjali programme at the site of temporary shelters (containers) provided to the survivors at Chouk."

And on the status of construction work, he said, "The major construction work is by and large completed, the remaining work is underway, we will wait for the government decision to officially hand over the possession."

Survivors received compensation

All the survivors and next of kin have received the compensation announced by the government. Jagdish Pardhi, 25, lost five people from his family, which included his mother Thami, 45, son Kiniya, 5, and three members including his cousin Pankaj and his family. Pankaj's son Harshal, 11, is the sole survivor.

We have received R7 lakh towards each of the persons declared dead, but in one case we have only received R5 lakh, instead of R7 lakh, which we have brought to the notice of the officials, but the issue has not been sorted out till now, said Jagdish. The money had been transferred to the bank account.

"We have been allotted our house numbers, my house number is 18, while it is 19 for Harshal, though we haven't got the possession, as yet, as internal and external work is pending," said Jagdish.

Could have made better homes

Most of the survivors claim that they visited the location where the new houses are being constructed. Madhav Maruti Sutak, 25, said, "Prior to the tragedy, we had two BHK homes, with a huge hall and we had sufficient space inside. But the new RCC structures are only one BHK, with a small hall and smaller bedroom. The house on a 3-guntha plot would have cost R25 lakh plus. However, we had redone our homes in Irsalwadi, and it was designed in such a way that there was sufficient ventilation and natural lights, throughout the year, which is not the case in the new house number 29, near a mango tree." He said that most of the work is incomplete. "We could have designed our homes better, as per our requirement and traditional layouts," he said.

Santosh Thakur, founder president of Gram Sanvardan Shamajik Sanstha, an NGO.

Unfulfilled Promises

Santosh Thakur, founder president of Gram Sanvardhan Samajik Sanstha, working for tribal welfare in Raigad district said, "The delay in providing homes even after a year is not the fault of the Chief Minister, but it is the utter failure of local administration, who failed to execute the same within the stipulated time period. There have been numerous instances in the past, where tall promises were made for tribal welfare and upliftment, but the fact that tribals are even today struggling for availing their basic human rights, clearly indicates that they are deprived of government announced schemes for tribal welfare, even today."

Thakur demanded that the youngsters who lost everything in the landslide should be provided with jobs at the earliest, but irrespective of such an assurance from the local district administration, till date none of the survivors have got jobs.

Cause for concern

Irsalwadi in Khalapur and Taliye Varcha Aawad in Mahad, both villages are in Raigad district, they both experienced major landslide, many were buried alive, and entire village is under the rubbles, but one common aspect that has left even the district administration worried is that they were not in the list of nine high-risk landslide prone villages out of 103 villages in Raigad district.

Popular amongst trekkers

Irsalwadi village, on the foothills of Irsalwadi Fort, Khalapur tehsil, had 49 houses, with 43 families and a headcount of 219. In one night, the population had been reduced to 144. The village was also home to cattle and goats, some of which survived the tragedy. The site is popular amongst the trekkers from Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune and neighbouring cities.

The villagers would cultivate rice and grow few vegetables in the open area and some of them were running refreshment joints and weekend mess for the trekkers. Some men would even work as private labourers on daily wages and would sell vegetables in markets in Chouk and some would go to Panvel market area in hope of finding work.

Trekking season - extra income

Madhav, who studied till Std XII, was running a successful weekend mess for trekkers, like others in the village, on their way to Irsalwadi Fort and on their return would halt at the village for refreshments and lunch. His mother and wife would do the cooking and brother would assist in running the mess charging a vegetarian lunch plate for R155 and non-vegetarian food plate for over R200. He would earn a few thousand rupees and the monsoon would be the peak season for trekking.

"This used to be our business season, as trekkers in large numbers would usually start coming to Irsalwadi Fort from the first week of June and the season would continue till Diwali. And the number of trekkers would gradually reduce for the rest of the months," he said.

New homes being constructed for the survivors of Irsalwadi

Only house entitlement

Madhav said, "We have not lost any members in our family, so we are not entitled for the compensation of R7 lakh given to the next of kin of the deceased. As we are amongst those who have lost their house in the landslide, we will be getting a house when it is ready." Madhav's parents are working as farm labourers earning a daily wage of Rs 300-Rs 350. "The state government has assured us to provide us with a job, but even after submitting their resumes about a dozen times, I have not got any work. I am forced to work as a labourer at a nearby construction site, which doesn't pay well," he said.

Mother saved our lives

Madhav, who studied till Std XII, said that his family was lucky to have survived the landslide, but they lost their house, cash and gold jeweler, worth over a lakh. Madhav recalled, "It was raining heavily on the fateful night and it was his mother who heard a loud noise. She opened the rear door to find a huge rock had damaged our neighbour's house, she alerted us and we rushed out within minutes, the landslide had happened. My mother saved our lives, but we lost 12 of our relatives, whose bodies were never recovered from the debris."

Survivors still have nightmares

Many of the survivors continue to have nightmares of the fateful night. Jagdish Pardhi and Madhav both admitted that many elders in the community who witnessed the disaster find it difficult to accept and are unable to sleep .

"On July 5, evening many survivors had a chilling recall of the landslide experience, as it was raining very heavily, similar to the one that they had experienced on the fateful night. They feared a repeat of the landslide and many could not sleep. Also the containers do not have water filters and solar panels installed at times do not work, making it difficult to get geyser water in the morning," a survivor said.

Mental health support and counseling

Dr Bharat Vatwani, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and psychiatrist, said, "Events such as these are psychologically uprooting and hurting. The hurt, the anger, the loss, the 'why did this have to happen to me' ruminations and nightmarish flashbacks will continue to surface in the landslide victims not just in the first anniversary of the event but for some more years to come. I hope and pray that professional counseling and the necessary support is available to them in their time of need, and they do not feel let down and forgotten by society around them, compounding their psychological trauma and woes."