6.5-acre plot handed over for houses for Irshalwadi landslide-affected

CIDCO managing director Anil Diggikar said that each house would be of approximately 600 square feet. “We got the plot on Wednesday, and our joint managing director Kailash Shinde is working on the details,” he said. A CIDCO officer said that the families of the victims would increase in the next 15 years and thus there had to be scope for this expansion

Mumbai: The Raigad district administration has handed over a 6.5-acre plot at Chouk village to CIDCO to construct 42 houses for those dishoused by a landslide at Irshalwadi on the night of July 19. The plot was earlier used for cattle-grazing.

The landslide that struck Irshalwadi on the night of July 19 took a high toll—at least 27 bodies were removed from the debris while 57 others were missing. The Raigad district administration has begun the procedure to declare them dead so that the next of kin can get compensation. (HT PHOTO)

CIDCO managing director Anil Diggikar said that each house would be of approximately 600 square feet. “We got the plot on Wednesday, and our joint managing director Kailash Shinde is working on the details,” he said. A CIDCO officer said that the families of the victims would increase in the next 15 years and thus there had to be scope for this expansion.

Raigad officials said that each family would get three gunthas or 303 square metres each, and 42 families would be rehabilitated. On August 16, when chief minister CM Eknath Shinde visited the villagers, they had asked for a bigger space to accommodate their goats and buffaloes, and he had agreed.

“We have proposed a proper layout,” said a district official. “The colony will have a school, a balwadi (playschool), community centre, recreation ground and a Gao Devi temple.”

Kailash Shinde is yet to work out what type of houses are to be constructed. In the wake of the Taliye landslide two years ago, MHADA had constructed pre-fab houses for the victims, and CIDCO is studying whether pre-fab houses can be built for the Irshalwadi landslide-affected as well.

At present, the site where the landslide happened is completely sealed with tin sheets, and two policemen have been posted so that miscreants have no access to the spot.

The Raigad district administration is helping those who lost everything in the landslide get their Aadhar cards and bank documents back. Officers are also helping youngsters to get copies of their degrees and diplomas so that they can pursue advanced education or get jobs. Kailash Shinde said it would take six to eight months to construct the houses.

The CM, on his visit had promised that the government would provide jobs to those who fit into the criteria of the Navi Mumbai municipal corporation and CIDCO. “We will have to use special rules to do certain things,” he said. “For example, there are provisions for the rehabilitation of earthquake victims, and we will use these provisions to provide jobs.”

Forty-one families are currently living in 46 containers at Chouk village at the foothills of Irshalgad. The other containers have been converted into an anganwadi, a police post, a small clinic and other such essentials.

The landslide that struck Irshalwadi on the night of July 19 took a high toll—at least 27 bodies were removed from the debris while 57 others were missing. The Raigad district administration has begun the procedure to declare them dead so that the next of kin can get compensation.