Raigad landslide: As search and rescue ops end, here’s all you need to know

At Irshalwadi, the rescue operation was underway from July 21 with periodic breaks owing to heavy rainfall. However, Maharashtra minister Uday Samant, who is Raigad's guardian minister, on Sunday said rescue ops have been called off after a decision was taken unanimously and in consultation with other district officials, authorities concerned and local residents.

The number of bodies recovered from the debris over the last three days remains unchanged today with no new bodies found. The death toll touched 27 on July 22, whereas 57 persons are still missing. Moreover, one body that was recovered is yet to be identified, informed officials.

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of 27 people from the debris left behind by the landslide, which include the remains of four children aged between six months and four years old. Also among the deceased are 12 men, 10 women and a body that could not be identified.

Of the 43 families in the hamlet, two families perished completely, while 41 families, comprising 144 persons, have been provided shelter in a temple.

Women mourn the death of their relatives, after a landslide hit a village in Raigad. (Reuters)

Among the 48 houses in Irshalwadi, 17 houses were either partially or completely buried under the debris left by the landslide.

Irshalwadi, located on a hilltop in Raigad's Khalapur tehsil has no pucca roads leading to it and is at least an hour away from a motorable road. Therefore, rescue teams were not able to use excavators or earth-movers for the operation, having to manually dig out the debris instead.

During the four-day search and rescue operation involving 1,100 people, the agencies involved included the NDRF, SDRF, Thane Disaster Action Response force, apart from locals and trekkers.

NDRF personnel during a search and rescue operation after a landslide at Irshalwadi village in Raigad district. (PTI)

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the state Assembly that the village of Irshalwadi was not on the list of villages which are prone to landslides. However, seeing as how the incident shook the country, the state government had also decided to shift residents of all landslide-prone regions to safer locations.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel and other volunteers climb up a mountain to reach the site of a landslide at a village in Raigad. (Reuters)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that he would adopt the kids who lost both parents in the recent landslide at Irshalwadi village in the Raigad district of the state. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased.