Raigad: From livelihood to generational knowledge, ‘the landslide took it all away’, say Irshalwadi residents

Ganpat’s family, including his wife, two children, father and siblings, survived the landslide but the family depended on tourism as their primary means of earning. They had arrangements made for tourists to stay in tents or their home, along with providing them breakfast, lunch or dinner.

While many families had set up shops to sell water and snacks to trekkers, at least three had invested in tents. “In fact, we had bookings for 40 people for Thursday, the day after the landslide occurred,” Ganpat said.

Another resident Ravindra Tukaram Pardhi said that his family had bought 74 tents over the past eight years as tourists increased. “One of the trekkers from Mumbai, who visited Irshalgad Fort often during the monsoon, suggested that I buy some tents and make arrangements for people to stay here, offer them homecooked food. It worked as many would love the picturesque view from our village and decide to spend a night there. We would charge Rs 850 per person for stay, food. Usually tourists came from Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad,” Ravindra says.

While six members of the family survived the landslide, Ravindra lost his younger brother Sudam. He says that his whole family, including his parents and two brothers, contributed to his venture. As the village was accessible after a 30–40-minute trek with no motorable roads leading to it, residents would have to carry essential items on their heads, once a week, usually Fridays, in preparation for the tourists. “We do not know what we will do going ahead,” he says, adding that he hopes that adequate government jobs are provided by the state.

For others, too, the loss is not only of their belongings or loved ones but their way of life. Most people in the village had small patches of land on which they grew rice, nachni (foxtail millet), which was for consumption and the excess would be sold. Residents would usually wake up at 4-5 am, finish household chores, tend to their cattle and leave for their farms around 8-9 am after breakfast. Women would also go to the farms after completing other chores. Residents said that apart from millets and rice, they would also grow vegetables including brinjal, cluster beans, and tomatoes. Women would also forage for vegetables growing in the forest which would be gathered usually over two days and then sold in the Chouk market. They also gathered crabs for their evening meals, which they would prepare post 6 pm, before sleeping around 8 pm.

“We were also taught from an early age about the forest, how to gather edible vegetables, medicinal ones. We were taught how to take care of the cattle, how to harvest, sow,” says 18-year-old Maya Pardhi.

Residents recall how Hasha Pardhi, whose entire family was wiped out, would spend days in the forest trying to find plants, trees with medicinal properties, researching their use. “For us adivasis, the loss of our village and its residents has also meant a wiping out of our knowledge, gathered over many generations. The village had seen no deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic. We were so self-sustained that we would often say that apart from salt and clothes, we did not need to depend on anyone for anything. The landslide took it all away,” says Ankush Wagh, a relative of Hasha.