Five months after the disaster, Irshalwadi is still quite depressed

MUMBAI: Five months after a landslide destroyed the scenic town of Irshalwadi, 66 kilometers outside of Mumbai, the fear of death still looms large over the area. Even now, devastation, decaying houses, and the skeleton bones of dead animals are evident wherever one turns.

29 residents were killed in the July 19 landslide, while another 87 vanished under the debris and sludge. The surviving residents of the town continue to question when life will stop treating them unfairly. They are struggling to survive in containers meant to be temporary homes in the adjacent hamlet of Chouk, and they are unsure of their future—whether they will ever return to the lovely woods they previously called home or move away from the loud highway.

Living alone in the blue-and-white Container No. 5, Gangu Pujari, 35, said, “The containers can’t replace our homes.” “Our homes were four times larger than theirs. We were surrounded by nature. Our homes, our loved ones, and our lives itself were taken by the landslide. Our spirits continue to exist even though our bodies are here.

Pujari lost her two sisters-in-law, three brothers, and parents. She stated, “I went back to the village to stay with my parents and brother after my husband passed away ten years ago.” “I was spending the fateful evening at my daughter’s place. Everything had been destroyed by the time I got back the next morning.

Originally intended to be temporary homes, the 42 containers are now the go-to residences for their grudging tenants. Kisan Ravi Wagh considers the emotional pain after losing both of his parents in the avalanche. “In the last five months, I have made two visits to the village,” he said. “I find the sight unsettling, especially at night.” However, that is not how my parents are. Kisan and a few other people are still imprisoned in the container colony; they seldom ever out to look for jobs and engage in social interactions.

Every time Nitin Pardhi goes back to his birth village, he is struck with melancholy since he lost both his father and a sibling in the landslide. “To survive here, we are attempting to obtain some labor jobs,” he said. However, living in these containers irritates us. This location is close to the highway, and concrete and noise are unfamiliar to us. I keep returning to the village in an attempt to flee, but when I witness the destruction, I cry.

The colony’s women now follow a different routine than when they used to get up at five in the morning to cook while the rest of the family got ready to go out and work or farm. Living in a container with her spouse and two kids, Sukri Pardhi (28), remarked, “Most of us wake up after 8 am here.” For farming, the previous five months were quite important. The majority of us had untended paddy fields. We have nothing planned for the days we spend inside the container.

At the Anganwadi that has been established in the container colony, Padma Tandel, the Anganwadi worker who has been connected to the hamlet for the last 13 years, cares for 16 children under the age of six. She has gotten to know the families over the last five months, and they all come to her to talk about their desperation. “The villagers had experienced extreme hardship following the landslide,” she said. “They’re not used to living in a setting this concrete. They are used to cultivating and eating their own grains and veggies. They have to purchase everything here.

Prior to today, ₹500 might carry a family through a whole month, but even a day’s survival on that amount was challenging, according to Ravindra Pardhi. “We used to live off the grains and vegetables we grew,” he said. “We are now using what little savings we had for day-to-day survival.” The cattle that had survived the landslide had been left behind in the hamlet since there had not been enough room for them in the new colony, Ravindra said.

Another financial blow to the locals has been the cessation of hikers’ visits to the well-known Irshalgad Fort. Irshalwadi used to see at least 15 to 20 hikers every weekend, often double that amount, prior to the avalanche. “They planned to spend the night in the village,” said Ganpat Pardhi, 30. “The ladies assisted me in preparing meals for the hikers while I served as the guide. For us, it was a reliable source of revenue. However, the village boundary has been blocked off since the disaster.

This year, there was no festivity observed by the locals. “We used to celebrate Diwali, Navratri, and Ganeshotsav together,” Ganpat said. The whole hamlet has a single Ganpati idol. It will be a while before things go back to normal in our lives.

The village of Irshalwadi is now a ghost village, although the locals still go there. “I’ve been there three times; the most recent visit was during the Hindu holiday of pitru paksha when people honor their ancestors,” Pujari said. “I get killed looking at the village.” I have a persistent sense that my sisters-in-law and parents will approach me from one of the lanes and shout out to me.

A handful of the locals have begun farming in the area close to Morbe Dam, even though it is almost impossible to return to the hamlet given the possibility of further landslides during the next monsoon. “We need to farm in order to survive,” Pujari said.

Meanwhile, on a 6.5-acre tract of land in Chouk Manivali, work has started on the homes that 48 Irshalwadi families will move into. During his visit to the colony last month to celebrate Diwali with the people, Kalyan Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde said that the 500-square-foot bungalows will be ready for habitation in three months.

According to district collector Yogesh Mhase of Raigad, plinth-level work had begun and the piling had been removed. He said, “The houses will be ready by March or April 2024.” The joint MD of CIDCO, Kailash Shinde, said, “40% of the work is over.” They are able to move into the homes by Gudi Padwa.