As Irshalwadi village disappeared under the massive landslide, many families lost several members. Two families — the Pirkad’s and Pardhi’s — were wiped away entirely. In the Pirkad and Pardhi households, the landslide did not spare even a single member. The Pirkad family comprised 10 members whereas the Pardhi household had five members. Pirkad family The Pirkad family was headed by Kisan Changu Pirkad (49), his wife Nagi Kisan Pirkad (44) and their sons. The eldest son, Bhagwaan Pirkad (32), was married to Manisha Pirkad and they had two daughters, Dhanashree (8) and Devki (4). Their youngest son, Dinesh Kisan Pirkad (27), was married to Lalita Pirkad (20) and, a year ago, they had a daughter, Asmita. Meanwhile, the third son of the family, Krishna Pirkad (28), was also to marry this October. Together, they were a family of 10. A relative of the Pirkad’s, Rama Bama Pardhi told The Sunday Express that all of Kisan Changu Pirkad’s three sons had been working in the Home Guard for the past five years at least. “As part of their job, they would sometimes travel to Karjat or Khopoli for night duty. However, that night the brothers decided to stay back as heavy rain had been lashing Irshalwadi for the past few days,” Pardhi said. The eldest son of the family, Bhagwan, had recently built a separate home and was planning to move in with his wife and daughters soon. Further, he had also set up a dhaba selling Maggi and nimbu paani, among other savouries, to tourists who flocked the hilly hamlet during the weekend. “Besides, Bhagwaan had also set up a tent business,” Pardhi added. Pardhi family The Pardhi household consisted of Hasha Dehu Pardhi (55), the patriarch of the house, who was married to Thaki Dehu Pardhi. They lived with their youngest son Vikas Pardhi (18) and their other son, Suresh Parshi, who had married Sushma Pardhi this April. The other sons of Hasha and Thaki lived in separate homes at Irshalwadi. According to a relative, 18-year-old Vikas, like other young boys of the village, had gone to an abandoned school in the village to play PUBG and spend the night there. However, when he felt the landslide coming, he rushed home to save his family. He was, however, buried under the debris. Hasha was the village’s in-house ayurvedic doctor who served villagers for no charges. “We would force him to accept money,” recounted Ankush Vadh, a relative. He added that Hasha would often spend his days in the jungle, sometimes for four days at a stretch, in search of medicinal plants and herbs. Until a year ago, the family lived in a kutcha house made of bamboo and timber. Last year, they constructed a pucca house. Both the homes and the family have been wiped away.
