Malin Village landslide death toll rises to 73: Reports

The death toll from the landslide in Pune District's Malin Village has reportedly climbed to 73, and hope for any survivors is receding, even as National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) personnel continue to brave hostile weather conditions and a difficult terrain to look for signs of life under the huge mound of mud and rock created by the fury of nature.

At least 300 NDRF personnel are at the spot leading the rescue efforts.

Malin Village is located in the Ambegaon Taluka.

Rescue workers have been digging through knee-deep mud in an attempt to extricate people, dead or living, buried under the debris.

Hope for finding people alive is gradually fading away.

Till Friday evening, the death toll was officially pegged at 63.

Rain and poor communications contine to hamper rescue efforts in the village, located 60 km from Pune.

Meanwhile, people from neighbouring areas and volunteers witnessed with horror the ongoing events.

Surekha, one of the volunteers associated with the women of the disaster struck village, couldn't come to terms with the tragedy that had befallen her fellow associates in the village. She kept speaking about the women and the village that had once existed.

"It is looking like a graveyard. We didn't find any villager. We couldn't find the women who were associated with us. I went with Dr. Sudha at the site and found two of our women. In the last annual meeting of our organisation, the women asked us to visit their village and said that it is very beautiful and so are the villagers. And today we couldn't meet them. We are very sad," she said.

The village school, one of the only roofed buildings to survive, was pressed into service as a makeshift shelter for rescue workers, while police were stationed in trucks to provide backup.

A senior district official, Saurabh Rao, said the region had received 118 mm (more than 4.5 inches) of rain the day before the incident. A team of geologists was trying to determine the cause of the landslide, Rao added.

Rainy season downpours, though vital for agriculture, can often bring disaster. Unprecedented rain last year wreaked havoc across Uttarakhand state in the Himalayas, swelling rivers and lakes, inundating towns and killing thousands.

Environmentalists say construction of hydro-electric dams, involving blasting tunnels through mountains to carry diverted flows of water, deforestation and the spread of unregulated buildings along river banks magnify the impact of heavy rains.