Pune landslide: Unscientific farming seen as trigger - Livemint

Rescue workers and volunteers clear the debris from the site of a landslide at Malin village. Photo: Reuters

Mumbai/Malin (Pune):Environmental campaigners said Wednesday’s landslide in Malin village of Pune district that has killed 41 people so far and buried around 125 more was caused by unscientific paddy farming encouraged by the local agricultural department.

Ambegaon-based non-governmental organization Nisarg Sahas Sanstha (NSS), which works in the field of environment protection, has lodged a complaint with Pune Rural Police demanding that an offence of culpable homicide be registered against local officials of the agricultural department.

It said these officials encouraged tribal farmers of Malin village to undertake paddy cultivation in an unscientific manner.

Dhananjay Konkane, president of NSS, said: “Villagers who mostly belong to the Scheduled Tribe community called Mahdeo Koli were encouraged by the agriculture department to flatten large tracts of hills in the village and also uproot the trees on the hill to promote paddy cultivation among these tribals, so that they have a permanent source of livelihood under the government scheme called Padkai.”

However, before encouraging villagers to undertake paddy cultivation on the hills, no survey on the geographical features of the village and its surroundings were carried out by the officials, he claimed.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh , who visited Malin village on Thursday, announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs.2 lakh each for close relatives of those who died in the landslide.

Singh said: “One must strike a balance between development and environment. Eco-friendly development is a must to ensure that balance of nature is not disturbed.”

However, he added, it would be premature to comment on the reasons for the landslide before authorities had received the report of the Geological Survey of India.

The confirmed death toll was 41 from Wednesday’s landslide, said H.H. Chauhan , deputy director of health services in the district where the village is located.

More than 24 hours after the Wednesday morning landslide, authorities said the chances of survival were slim for anyone still trapped under the mud in Malin village in Ambegaon near Pune district of Maharashtra. Suresh Jadhav , a district official, said around 40 homes were wiped out.

Two days of torrential rains triggered the landslide, which continued to pound the area as rescuers brought bodies covered in soaked white sheets to waiting ambulances while relatives stood by, weeping. Bad communications, dangerous roads and debris delayed national rescue personnel from the stricken area for several hours Wednesday.

The disaster only came to light when a bus driver passed by and saw that the village had disappeared under masses of mud and earth. “The driver returned to a nearby city and alerted authorities,” Jadhav said. “Everything on the mountain came down.” Thirty bodies had been recovered and eight people pulled out alive, said rescue official Sachin Tamboli .

Suresh Dhonde , who was working in another town when the landslide ripped through his village, said only two people managed to get out of his home alive.

“The other six are buried under the mud,” he said.

Crowds of people from nearby areas were helping rescuers, using their bare hands to move fallen trees and rocks. About 250 disaster response workers and at least 100 ambulances were involved in the rescue effort, officials said.

Overnight, emergency workers used flood lights mounted on jeeps to illuminate the disaster area, where the tangled roofs of homes poked up through thick mud.

Rescuers expected the death toll to rise in the village at the foothills of the Sahyadri Mountains. Sandeep Rai Rathore , a top official of the National Disaster Response Force, estimated that around 100 people were missing and feared dead.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned the loss of lives and said all possible efforts must be made to help the victims, according to a statement from his office. He sent home minister Rajnath Singh to the disaster area.

Landslides are common in the area during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September. The area around the village has been deforested extensively, increasing its vulnerability to landslides. Similar deforestation and environmental damage have caused floods and landslides in other parts of India.

Pune district is about 150km (95 miles) southeast of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital.

On Thursday, heavy rains hit a remote mountainous village in northern India and six members of a family were feared dead, said police officer Pravin Tamta. Police have recovered two bodies and were searching for four others in Tehri district in the hilly Uttarakhand state, Tamta said. The village is 300 kilometers (200 miles) north of New Delhi.

Last year, more than 6,000 people were killed as floods and landslides swept through Uttarakhand state during the monsoon season.

Reuters contributed to this story.

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