At least 20 persons were killed and 150 others feared trapped under huge mounds of loose soil that rolled down from a hillock onto 45 houses in a major landslide that rocked Malin village near the temple town of Bhimashankar in Ambegaon taluka of Pune district, 220 km from here on Wednesday morning.
The Pune district officials supervising the rescue operations apprehended that the toll in the landslide might go up further later in the night.The first report of the landslide and massive destruction was given by a State Transport bus driver, who while passing the area found the entire village buried in the slush.
As many as 20 persons had been rescued from under the landslide debris till late on Wednesday evening by a team of 150-member team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) that rushed to the village within a few hours of the natural disaster.All the rescued persons, who had been injured in the mishap, were rushed to nearby primary health centre in Ambegaon taluka and State-run Sassoon Hospital in Pune. Despite being hampered by non-stop rain, the NDRF personnel continued the rescue operation.
"Of the 20 bodies we have extricated from under the debris. Despite the inclement weather conditions, the NDRF personnel and local people have continued clearing debris. We fear that at least 150 people are still trapped under the loose soil," Pune’s Additional District Collector Ganesh Patil told The Pioneer late in the evening.
The landslide, which took place around 6am, is believed to have been triggered both by incessant heavy rain that battered the area for the past 36 hours and some ongoing excavation work on the hillock.According to the Additional Collector, the debris of the landslide came down on 65 properties — including 45 households — in Malin village. Malin village forms a part of the Bhimshankar Hills which has a wildlife sanctuary.The mishap devastated the entire Malin village, which incidentally has been identified as one of the eco-sensitive villages in Western Ghat by a High level Working Group (HlWG) headed by Dr K Kasturirangan.
"My information is that some excavation work in the form of some plotting activity was going on in Malin village for the past few days. This village is an important geological landform in the Western Ghats. Acting on the recommendations of the Kasturangan-head group, the Government of India had issued some directions to the Maharashtra Government to protect the ecological interests of the area. That being the case, how could the State Government plotting activity in the hillock adjoining the villageIJ," Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbar asked, while talking to this newspaper.
Some activists attributed the landslide to excessive tree-felling that had taken place in the hillocks adjoining the Malin village in recent village.However, the Pune district officials said that the torrential rain that had lashed the area during the past 24 hours might have resulted in the landslide."The village recorded a rainfall of 108 mm during the past 24 hours ending at 8 am today," Patil said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief about the Malin landslide and tweeted that he asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh to visit the village on Thursday morning.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar is also visiting the Malin village on Thursday. "The Ambegaon landslide incident at Malin village near Bhimashankar is very unfortunate. We have many villages located beneath hillocks. This incident has alarmed us to rethink about such villages. We should give priority to protect lives of innocent people," Pawar tweeted.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, his deputy Ajit Pawar and Co-operation Minister Harshvardhan Patil visited the hinterland village and inspected the rescue operation.
Illegal construction to blameIJ
The landslide is believed to have been triggered by incessant rain and excavation work on the hillock
Malin village forms a part of the Bhimshankar Hills which has a wildlife sanctuary and has been termed as eco-sensitive villages in Western Ghat
Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar blamed the unrestricted construction activity on hill slopes for the landslide