Birla Vishwakarma MahavidyalayaDisaster Management

A case study on Malin village landslide

Guided by : Prof. D.S.ModiPrepared by:1) Ashish Panara-1400731060142) Dharmesh Vadher-140073106025

On 30 July 2014, a landslide occurred in the village of Malin in the Ambegaon taluka of the Pune district in Maharashtra, India.

The landslide, which hit early in the morning while residents were asleep, was believed to have been caused by a burst of heavy rainfall, and killed at least 151 people.

The landslide was first noticed by a bus driver who drove by the area and saw that the village had been overrun with mud and earth.

In addition to those dead, more than 160 people, and possibly up to 200, were believed to have been buried in the landslide in 44 separate houses. Rains continued after the landslide making rescue efforts difficult.

Occurrence

Amid reports that there was massive deforestation in the region, it now appears that at the root of the allegations is a government scheme to level off land on hill slopes to create cultivable plots.

According to Nisarga Sahas Sanstha, a non governmental organisation working on environmental issues in the region, the state government launched a scheme called ‘Padkai’ for tribals on a pilot basis in the Ambegaon Tehsil about three years ago. The Padkai scheme is similar to the MNREGA scheme. Through this scheme, there is employment generation for tribals, with assets created in the form of their own plots of land for cultivation.

Cause

Top view of Malin village from google map image

“However, many flaws have been reported in the survey carried out to implement the scheme. Agriculture department officials have done the survey carelessly and they are the ones responsible for the incident. Officials have chosen around 25 plots that are located behind the houses of the tribal people. But the slope of the hill here is extreme. And in the process of levelling the land for cultivation, many trees have been uprooted. This has loosened the soil," said Dhananjay Kokane, president of Nisarg Sahas Sanstha, speaking to Firstpost.

Also, the plots thus created were given stone bunds along the periphery, to prevent outflow of collected rain water. "Anybody can tell that these stones and the loosened soil can come down on the houses at any time given that the area falls under the heavy rainfall category,” said Kokane.

Though initial reports stated that the landslide had killed 17 people, officials expected the death toll to exceed 150.

As of 4 August 2014, the death toll had reached 134. The bodies so far recovered were of 50 men, 64 women and 20 children.

Casualties

Emergency services, including 378 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force, were mobilised to the area, and 8 victims had been rescued from the landslide prior to the evening of 30 July.

Nevertheless, rescue efforts had been hampered by poor road conditions and continuing rains. Authorities have also expressed pessimism about the possibility of recovering any of the trapped people alive .

As of 31 July 22 people had been rescued alive from the landslide. On 4 August, the survivors of the landslide were ordered by the district administration to move out of Malin.

Rescue efforts

References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Malin_lan

dslide http://www.firstpost.com/india/truth-behind-

pune-village-landslide-deforestation-for-a-govt-scheme-1642715.html

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