Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray spent over half an hour with the survivors at the temporary shelter Sri Kshetra Panchayat Mandir Nadal Village, Khalapur. He assured help to the people present at the spot. The shelter is located 7 km away from the tribal settlement.
As per the data released by the Raigarh District Collectorate, Irshalwadi with a population of 229 had 43 families living in it. According to this and the current count of 27 dead and 78 missing, the number of survivors of the landslide is 124. As of now, 73 people are at the relief camp site, 31 students are still in a residential tribal school, four are in hospital while 16 have now gone to their relatives.
Chief of the Irshalwadi tribal settlement, Kamlu Pardhi (65) said, “We had 48 houses. Now only 10 houses and Raigarh Zilla Parishad school are left. The landslide not only shattered our demands but also took away our livelihood. All are hoping and waiting for government help. Bodies have been recovered from under 20 feet deep mud.”
Another resident, Pandhari Pardhi (40), said, “I had returned from work but had not slept when a huge boulder and mud came down with a loud bang. I woke up my wife Gauri (30) and son Roshan (15) to run away and so we were saved.”
Amrita Pujari, a 19-year-old married woman, said she was sleeping, but her mother woke her up. “Our house and seven other houses, located just a few meters from the Zilla Parishad school towards the fort, were destroyed.”
The Raigad district administration has assessed the situation but most officials said they have no hope of finding any survivors. Officials said that the rotting bodies are adding to the woes of the authorities and with each passing day, it is becoming difficult to bring them back, let alone identify them.
NDRF Deputy Commandant (Operations), Deepak Tiwari Said that the district and state administration will decide whether to continue the rescue operation or not.
CIDCO has deployed over a thousand laborers from its construction sites in Navi Mumbai to help in the rescue and relief operations. CM Eknath Shinde Said that CIDCO has been asked to build houses for landslide victims at a nearby safe place. 25 stretchers and 5,000 bottles of drinking water were supplied by CIDCO at the site.