Aftermath and analysis

As the men and excavators of National Disaster Rapid force (NDRF) work tirelessly, to look for any survivors buried alive in the landslide disaster at Malin village, located on a hill slope of Western Ghat mountains, it is becoming increasingly clear that this mudslide, instead of being a natural disaster, is actually a man made one.

Ironically, the very project, bad execution of which, might prove to be the root cause of this disaster had won the prestigious United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) Equator prize for 2012. This project was taken up in the Ambegaon taluk by a Non-Governmental organization “Shashwat.”

It all started in 2007, when an inquiry report titled as “ Starvation, Malnutrition related deaths in 15 tribal districts of Maharashtra' was submitted by Mr. Lakshmidhar Mishra, former special rapporteur, National Human rights commission to the Government. To prevent starvation and malnutrition, while facilitating soil and water conservation, Government decided to launch a new scheme know as “Padkai” (Traditional system of community mutual aid) through Non Government Organizations. Under this scheme, hill slopes were leveled off and cultivable plots were created with partitions. In the Ambegaon Taluk of Pune Distrct, “Shashwat” took up this scheme, under which terracing on private lands in the upper reaches of the hilly area around “Dimbhe dam reservoir”was carried out. As a result, farm lands that produced millet, started producing paddy, resulting in a food availability to the families involved from 4-5 months to 8-10 months every year. The project also prevented silt sliding down the hill slopes and getting collected in the dam reservoir below. All terracing works were carried out through “Padkai” schemes and were monitored by village youths, trained for measurement work by Government staff. After the terracing work was done it was cross checked and certified by the Government staff.

According to a report from the ministry of tribal development of the Government of Maharashtra, 53 major works worth 370 Million Rupees were undertaken under “Padkai” scheme in 2011-12 alone. In the “Malin” village now buried under mud, “Padkai” scheme was taken up in 2013. The “Padkai” scheme though lauded by experts needed to take some simple precautions to protect the soil through stone bunding and by making rills or channels to drain rain water. The soil on hill slopes is usually held togather by the roots of trees. Unfortunately, it appears that this simple fact was perhaps ignored and trees were uprooted to clear the land. This could have loosened the soil and might have made it prone to landslides.

The experts now say that land under “Padkai” schemes was not surveyed adequately and plots were allotted on steep slopes. Proper bunding of the plots was not done, which might have led to heavy soil erosion. No nullahs or channels at suitable distances on the hill slopes were dug to drain away the overflowing rainwater to stem its effect on soil fertility.

So it all boils down to usual carelessness of the Government officials in measuring and levelling the land, carelessly uprooting the trees and non provision of drain water channels. What is even worst is that all these works were carried out under a scheme to provide employment guarantee to the rural folks.

Another glaring example of how Government agencies have played havoc, disregarding advice of experts, has also been brought to light. By calling wind energy as green energy, a project was awarded to an Indo-German company to erect wind mills in densely forested hill tops of Western Ghat mountains. The company has indiscriminately cut trees; official record says 28000 but unofficial record says 300,000, roads were constructed from the base to the hill tops without giving a thought to possibility of landslides. Dr. Madhav Gadgil, whose 2011 report on ecology of western Ghats was simply neglected by the Government, bitterly criticizes the Government policies

The 'Malin' disaster is a sad aftereffect of the thoughtless bungling of all environmental concerns, expressed by many. What has been done is a ready prescription for the disasters to happen. It is never wise to play with laws of nature. The punishment is always harsh and swift. It is unfortunate that the people of 'Malin' village had to pay for grave errors committed by someone else. We can only hope that the state Government shall realise the gravity of the situation, carry out immediate surveys and carry out rectification work as soon as possible to prevent such disasters at least in the future.

2^nd August 2014

Sunset at dawn

Malin is a small village of about 40 to 50 families situated in the Ambegaon Taluk in the Pune district of Indian state of Maharashtra. The village, surrounded by a very picturesque countryside, is located on a hill slope of the western Ghat mountains, about 500 meters away from the Manchar-Asane Road and about 120 Km from the city of Pune. It is amongst a group of 60 to 65 similar villages located on hill slopes in this area.

The dawn broke over the village, on July 30^th, 2014, with an overladen dark gray sky with sheets of rain falling all over the area. The region is known to receive heavy rainfall, but since last four days, the rains were particularly incessant and heavy. A Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus leaves the village at 7.30 am everyday after taking an overnight halt in the village. But the bus stop is located at a considerable distance from the village on the main road. Six villagers had woken up early on that day to see off their children, who were taking the bus. They had the left the village. Except for them rest of the villagers and guests were very much in the village.

24 year old Vitthal Titkare was one such guest, who had come to the village to spend a holiday with his wife at her maternal home in the village. Most of the houses in the village except for a temple with a 35 feet high dome, a community centre, school and a few houses withRCC construction, were built with bricks. Also like most of villages built on hill slopes, the doors to the houses faced the slope and not the cliff. Around 7'o clock in the morning, Vitthal's brother-in-law, who was outside the house suddenly started shouting and asked everyone in the house to vacate and run outside. But before Vitthal and others could gather what was happening and move, their world sharply and abruptly came to an end. A massive landslide with large boulders and a flood of mud hit the village next instant, completely submerging and burying everyone and everything in the village under it. Within a few seconds, nothing but an eerie silence prevailed over the entire village.

Around 7.30 AM, another MSRTC bus, travelling on a daily trip from Ahupe to Manchar, approached the spot, where the village stood few minutes before. The driver usually would stop here and pick up few villagers going to Ambegaon market. That day, he had a shock of his life, as no trace of the village was seen at all. All that he could see was a vast slide filled with sticky reddish mud and boulders. He also found that there was no signal on his mobile phone. Absolutely stunned and shocked, he drove on and when he reached a spot further up, where some people were standing, he stopped and informed them about what has happened.

Within few hours Government machinery and National Disaster Rapid force (NDRF) men reached the spot with earth moving machinery. It was no easy task to reach the village because of narrow roads and incessant rains. When they reached the spot all they saw was a nicely plastered 35-foot mound. Only the temple dome was visible. Almost all the houses were destroyed. Only a couple of them are intact still. It is feared that the entire population of the village has got buried under the mud slide.

Vitthal was lucky. He was caught under a broken door. The space thus created, allowed him to breathe. Later, around 1 PM he heard the sound of the earth-movers clearing the debris. It was around 1.30pm that he was taken out by rescuers. Not everyone was so lucky. Vitthal's wife and mother-in law lost their lives, so also scores of others. As reported on 31^st July 2014 evening, 36 people were confirmed dead and some 150 still feared trapped below the mud.

Why did it happen? Geological Survey of India experts fear that it could happen again. The root cause of the landslide is believed to be the levelling of the land on the hill for cultivation. According to one expert, unlike Himalayas, which are prone to landslides because they are rocky and there is nothing to hold the soil, western Ghat mountains hill slopes are well bounded by the thick forest cover. However, indiscriminate cutting of trees is creating conditions here that can lead to such landslides. It's a deadly warning!

1^st August 2014