Lagatar24 Desk
Raigad, July 20: A landslide that struck the Raigad district in Maharashtra early on Thursday morning, affecting about 48 families, resulted in at least 13 fatalities and several persons being trapped.
The family of those who perished in the unfortunate incident will receive an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said. Additionally, he stated that the Maharashtra government would pay for the affected people’s medical care.
Two teams arrived at the scene, the NDRF said, and a search and rescue operation was started. 48 families were impacted by the landslide at Irshalwadi village in Khalapur tehsil of Raigad.
Aditya Thackeray, a UBT Sena MLA, also reacted to the Raigad landslide. He said, “The situation at the site is heart wrenching. We tried to speak to villagers, but it is difficult to reach there. The rescue operations are on. We did not want to put more pressure on the state machinery by insisting to go on the exact spot.”
He added that he doesn’t want to make the issue political. “I don’t want to politicise the issue. We will later raise the questions. But we will focus on the rescue operations for now as we need to save lives first,” he said.
Police said they have pulled 12 bodies from the rubble. In addition, one rescuer passed away from cardiac arrest.
Eknath Shinde, the Chief Minister, arrived to assess the rescue effort.
Ajit Pawar, the Deputy Chief Minister, arrived at the emergency control room to assess the rescue effort taking place in Raigad.
Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister, sent his condolences to the landslide victims and conveyed his sorrow. He said, “I have been in touch with the local administration since last night after learning about this incident. Two teams of NDRF have reached the spot immediately and two more teams are reaching soon”.
The relief operation, he stated, was originally impeded by heavy rains and darkness, but it is now gaining momentum. “According to preliminary information, a total of 48 families are here. Around 75 people have been evacuated and 5 people have died so far. Arrangements have been made for immediate treatment of the injured. The state government will provide all possible help to the heirs of the deceased and the entire cost of treatment of the injured will be borne by the state government. We are constantly monitoring the situation and rescue operations”.
Uday Samant and Dada Bhuse, two ministers from Maharashtra, travelled to Khalapur’s Irshalwadi in Raigad to assess the situation.
