Down a slippery slope: Climate change, landslide, heavy rain push Raigad villagers to edge of despair

irshalwadi: The nightmare of a landslide that buried an entire village and the dread of watching a mammoth boulder on an unstable slope, fearing every day that it would roll down and kill them all.

That’s how it is for thousands of people in Maharashtra’s Raigad area, even two months after 84 people were killed when the hillside around Irshalwadi village literally crumbled on the July 19 night of incessant, heavy rain.

The trauma lives on for those in Irshalwadi who escaped and live in makeshift container homes just down the road and for those in other villages around. Climate change, say experts and long-time residents, has come to their doorstep with extreme weather events that have led to hillsides getting increasingly fragile and may be dangerous.

According to Prakash Gajbhiye, director, the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Pune, rainfall has almost remained the same but the span has reduced and the intensity of precipitation increased.

“When there are high (heavy) rains in a shorter span, saturation of soil and rocks leads to sudden landslides. This is exacerbated by manmade activities like deforestation, slope cutting for construction of roads, houses and agricultural fields and changing natural drainage that results in deformation of slope forming material and this triggers landslides,” he explained.

As experts analyse broad trends, the villagers of the hill district of Raigad cope with their uncertain today and unknown tomorrow, wondering when they will have to move.

On the face of it, Manisha Yashwant Dore’s temporary home in a container close to the Irshadgad fort is better equipped -- there are two fans, decent flooring, cooking gas and tap water.

Dore, who lost seven members of her family, including her 18-year-old daughter, survived the massive landslide on July 19. And realises that nothing can ever replace their lives in the hill village of Irshalwadi.

“Although it was an arduous climb of an hour from the approach road to Irshalwadi, life was good when we lived up there. We did not need fans, we drew water from our well and we ate vegetables we grew and also the ones we got from the forest,” she said.

Her brother who had come as a guest that night, her mother-in-law, stepmother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law also died.

Recounting what had happened, the 35-year-old said there was first one landslide that buried some homes, including the house where her daughter Kanchan was sleeping.

“We rushed to help and started digging in a bid to rescue her. In minutes, there was another landslide and mounds of earth swallowed the entire hamlet,” added her husband Yashwant.

The couple, part of the Thakar tribe, was also buried under the debris but were rescued.

The July 19 landslide sealed the fate of the men and women of Irshalwadi. Questions loom large for many thousands living in the tribal area should they stay on in their villages, home for many generations, or is a move to safer areas inevitable.

There is an increasing feeling that they might just have to leave their homes to move to safety.

On a nearby hill is the tribal hamlet of Changewadi, is scores of small waterfalls. Villagers fear that the ground beneath a massive boulder is being eroded. And the boulder might come crashing down.

“We are the people of the forest. My great grandfather, grandfather, my father, myself and my children have lived here. We don’t want to be buried like Irshalwadi,” said Pandu Baku Khadke as he climbed the huge boulder with the dexterity of an ibex.

People in Changewadi are part of the Thakar tribe and work as daily wage labourers at hill station Matheran, or nearby Karjat and Khalapur towns.

Echoing the sentiments of many villagers in the area, 28-year-old Khadke said he did not want to leave but wondered if they had any choice in the matter. The story is repeated in village after village.

In Tadwadi, another tribal hamlet close by, land adjoining a hillock has sunk in many places leading to the creation of cracks. In Beedkhurd, villagers last month passed a resolution urging the government to shift them to safer places.

Irsahalwadi is not the only hamlet to be buried. In 2021, in Tailye village in Raigad, 87 people were killed in a landslide.

According to the Raigad district collectorate, nearly 350 lives have been lost due to extreme weather events from 2005 to 2021.