We wanted to shift downhill during monsoon, officials prevented us: Villagers

Irshalwadi tribals in Maharashtra claim they had warned authorities of a possible disaster before a landslide wiped out their village, killing over 20 people. The tribals had built temporary shelters at the foot of the hill to move into during the monsoon, but forest officials demolished them. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party is demanding a culpable homicide case against the forest officials. The state government has now decided to relocate all landslide-prone villages in the state.

Strap: Irshalwadi tribals say they had an inkling of a catastrophe following a boulder fall; MNS demands culpable homicide case against forest officials

HT Image

Khalapur: Irshalwadi may not have been on the government’s list of landslide–prone areas, however, the villagers say they had an inkling that a natural disaster was round the corner. They claim they had even built temporary shelters at the foot of the hill to shift into during the monsoon, but the forest officials demolished them terming them ‘illegal’.

After the loss of more than 20 lives and the whole village being wiped out in a landslide on Wednesday night, it is being asked if the tragedy could have been averted had the authorities considered the plight of the tribals on humanitarian grounds.

The tribals of Irshalwadi have been residing at virtually the top of the hill for around 150 years. Living amidst nature, they claim to have developed an instinct about predicting natural disasters.

“Sometime back, a boulder had come crashing down in our area. We immediately knew something was wrong. We had appealed to the authorities to let us shift down the hill from our hamlet, but we did not get a positive response,” said Mohan Pardi, 23, a tribal who lost his brother in the landslide.

Pratap Pardi, 31, another tribal, said, “We had constructed some temporary houses at the foothill to shift during the monsoon months. The forest officials, however, demolished them terming them illegal.”

Sunita Pardi, who lost nine members of her family, said, “We were not going to be there permanently. What crime had we committed? So many lives could have been saved. Don’t our lives matter?”

After meeting the tribals, Bala Nandgaonkar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader, said, “I am shocked to hear from the victims that their temporary shelters were demolished. There are hundreds of illegal structures all over the state and little is done about them. How can someone be so inhuman and heartless?

“It was only a matter of around four months and the tribals would have gone back to their village, where they are naturally more comfortable,” he added

“What was the urgency in demolishing the temporary shelters?”

Nadngaonkar said, “The tribals know the area well and can anticipate dangers. In fact, during the disaster committee meeting of the party, our leader Raj Thackeray, too, had warned that this monsoon, there could be major accidents in the Konkan region and that has come true. People in the know of things can anticipate, why this action then?”

Nandgaonkar said, “The government needs to take strict action against the concerned forest officials and a case of culpable homicide should be registered against them. Their action has led to so many deaths, which could have been prevented.”

CM Eknath Shinde said on Friday that the cabinet had decided to relocate all the landslide prone villages in the state. However, Irshalwadi, was not on the landslide prone list of the State government.

When asked why the tribals were left in the lurch despite residing in dangerous conditions, Vijay Kumar Gavit, minister of tribal development, on Thursday had said, “We shall undertake a complete review of all such hamlets in the state and following a survey, frame a policy to rehabilitate the tribals at safer places.”