Six days later... Brothers still have no news of 10 of their family

Dilip Lembhe’s six daughters, son, wife, his brother Govind’s wife and the mother of the two men are yet to be found; with not even a glimmer of hope coming from rescue officials, hope is fading away

Pune: Life hasn’t been the same for the Lembhe brothers since July 30 – the day a landslide crushed the village of Malin, situated in Ambegaon taluka near Pune. Dilip Lembhe (45) and his brother Govind have had no news of ten members of their family, who are trapped under the rubble.

Dilip’s six daughters, son and wife, Govind’s wife and the mother of the two men are yet to be found. With not even a positive hint coming from rescue officials, hope is fading fast.

“I had stepped out with my brother for work that day. I still remember the noise when the landslide occurred. We reached the spot only to find mud covering our entire village. I still can’t find the spot where my house used to be,” said Dilip.

At present, both brothers are living at a relative’s house two kilometres from the spot where the landslide occurred. “I don’t even know what to expect now. I’m waiting to hear about my family right now. Once I know their fate, I’ll never return to this place,” he added.

Aerial view
On Monday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials made use of a drone camera in order to capture pictures of the site. “There are some areas which are still slippery and, therefore, rescue workers can’t reach those spots. Hence, we decided to make use of a drone in order to reach all corners of this site,” said an official in charge of rescue operations.

This process went on for less than half an hour, but had to be stopped when rains lashed the area. Authorities have decided to continue clicking aerial pictures today as well.

Many personal items such as ration cards, jewellery, clothes and books were removed from the rubble yesterday. A notice has been displayed, asking relatives to claim the items. “What we need to know are the whereabouts of our family members. I don’t care about personal items any more,” said a despairing Dilip.

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