A 65-year-old man who lost five members of his family in the landslide at Irshalwadi in Maharashtra's Raigad district, has said it is better they "rest" in the debris rather than the decomposed bodies be pulled out and cause more pain to him. Nine members of Kamlu Pardhi's family were buried in the landslide that occurred on July 19, with only four managing to survive the tragedy. The four were pulled out by locals and rescue teams.
At least 17 of 48 houses in Irshalwadi, a tribal village located on a hill slope in the coastal district, around 80 km from Mumbai, were fully or partially buried under the landslide debris. As the village, overlooked by Irshalgad fort, a popular trekking destination, does not have a pucca road, earth movers and excavators could not be easily moved and the search and rescue operation was carried out manually before being called off on Sunday.