Landslide in India Claims 16 Lives, Over 100 Still Trapped

The death toll from a major landslide in western India rose to 16 late Thursday, officials said, as rescue attempts were suspended due to heavy rains and flooding with over a 100 people still thought trapped.

About 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Mumbai in the Maharashtra state, land broke way in the middle of the night in the isolated mountain hamlet of Irshalwadi, crushing several homes and trapping many residents.

In recent days, a wave of unprecedented heat, wildfires, heavy rain, and flooding has wrecked havoc throughout the globe, igniting new concerns about the speed of climate change.

Before nightfall, rescuers found 16 bodies, and local officials ordered them to stop searching, according to Atul Karwal, director general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), who spoke to Reuters.

“It is not possible to look for people in the dark in such terrain,” he claimed, adding that he was still optimistic that others could be discovered alive.

According to a Reuters witness and local media, rescuers searched for more than 12 hours in torrential rain and dense fog while avoiding huge stones that plummeted down the mountainside.

According to the witness, some dug graves close to the scene of the incident because it was too difficult to transport them down the mountain due to the weather.

According to Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, at least 225 people were believed to reside in the hamlet, and more than 80 of them had been able to flee, he said. It was suspected that around 100 people were trapped among the wreckage.

According to S B Singh, an official with the NDRF, “the debris at some of the places is 10 to 29 feet deep.”

More than 80 people perished in a nearby community two years ago due to a landslip. Since the start of the monsoon season on June 1, rain-related disasters have claimed more than 100 lives in India, largely in the north, according to the India Meteorological Department.

According to the weather service, several areas of the district that are home to numerous historic forts and trekking trails had experienced as much as 400 mm of rain in the previous 24 hours.

A weather department expert predicted that Thursday will see more rain, but it wouldn’t be as intense.

To the north, in Gujarat state, where the coast of Maharashtra is also being hammered by heavy rains that have stopped schools, inundated roads and hampered transportation, a red alert has been issued.

The Yamuna river reached the Taj Mahal’s enclosure walls this week for the first time in 45 years, flooding various historical sites and the gardens that surround the white-marble mausoleum from the 17th century.

A week earlier, the Yamuna River flooded major portions of New Delhi, including the area around the Red Fort, a historic fort, and Rajghat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, due to clogged flood gates and a malfunctioning drainage regulator.

Landslides in India

India is a country that is prone to various natural disasters, and landslides are among the significant geological hazards it faces. Several factors contribute to the occurrence of landslides in different regions of the country, including geological formations, heavy rainfall, deforestation, improper land use, and hilly terrain.

Some of the regions in India that are more susceptible to landslides include the Himalayan states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and parts of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the northeastern states like Sikkim, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Landslides in India have resulted in loss of lives, property damage, and disruptions to transportation and infrastructure. Efforts are made by the Indian government and various organizations to mitigate the risks and provide early warning systems to minimize the impact of landslides.

Extreme Weather And Flooding In Korea, Japan, China, And India

Extreme Weather And Flooding In Korea, Japan, China, And India: Understanding The Impact