MUMBAI: The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has so far recovered 70 bodies from the debris at Malin near Pune, where a village was devastated in Wednesday’s landslide.
The Maharashtra government on Friday maintained that 167 people were still buried under the debris.
“The National Disaster Response Force has so far recovered bodies of 26 men, 28 women and 10 children. Of them, 52 were cremated. There are 167 people still trapped under the debris,” said Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation Patangrao Kadam.
This is the first official confirmation of the number of people trapped in the state’s worst-ever landslide. The death toll is likely to go up as chances of survival of people buried under the debris are very slim. Kadam said the National Disaster Response Force jawans were braving the stench of decomposed bodies to carry out the rescue operations. The team is also keeping a watch on a nearby stream for signs of corpses or injured victims, who might have been carried downstream by the torrent.
Nine teams of National Disaster Response Force, each comprising 42 jawans, are engaged in the rescue operation. The state government has also deployed six teams of State Reserved Police Force (SRPF) to assist them.The survivors are, meanwhile, finding it difficult to make arrangements for their meal and shelter. A few NGOs from Pune have supplied them food. Many of them have now taken shelter in nearby villages.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has announced a compensation of `5 lakh to next kin of the victims. He said the government would bear the expenses for the medical treatment of the injured. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the government would rehabilitate the survivors.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is likely to visit Malan on Saturday.