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On 30 July 2014, a
landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
occurred in the village of Malin in the Ambegaon taluka of the Pune district in
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. 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. Rains continued after the landslide making rescue efforts difficult.


Cause

The landslides were caused after heavy rainfall that had begun the previous day, with the village receiving of rain on 29 July and continuing throughout the following day. The environmental destruction that resulted in the landslide is believed to have had many causes. The major cause was the negligence of geological facts before any developmental process. Another cause cited as contributing to the landslide was deforestation in the area.
Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
removes not only trees but also root structures that hold together the soil. Through deforestation, the soil of the surrounding land was made loose, and experts argue that deforestation was the primary undelaying anthropogenic cause of the landslide. One additional reason was changing agricultural practices villagers had recently shifted from cultivation of rice and
finger millet Finger millet (''Eleusine coracana'') is an Annual plant, annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and Semi-arid climate, semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and Self-pollination, self-pollinating speci ...
to wheat, which required leveling of steep areas, which contributed to the instability of the hills. Also, the construction of the nearby Dimbhe Dam ten years ago was considered as a possible reason. The instability of the hillsides was due to the construction activities, which are often done without careful analysis of environmental consequences. Stone
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
ing, among other types of construction, was specifically blamed by Sumaira Abdulali of the Awaaz Foundation, for the instability of the hillside.


Casualties

Although 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. About 44 to 46 separate houses were believed to have been buried in the landslide.


Management

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. Emergency services, including 378 personnel of the
National Disaster Response Force The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is a specialized force in India, tasked with the responsibility of responding to natural disasters, natural and man-made disasters. It operates under the National Disaster Management Authority (India) ...
, were mobilized 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. Apart from the Security Forces, members of voluntary organizations and locals also helped in rescue operations. On 7 August, rescue operations officially drew to a close, with the final death toll resting at 151.


Reactions of malin

* Office of
Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...
released a statement in response to the landslide, in which they "condoled the loss of lives in the landslide and directed all possible efforts to help the affected people." * Chief of the
Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...
,
Sharad Pawar Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar (, pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �əɾəd̪ pəʋaËɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. Pawar served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for four terms and in the Union Council of Ministers ...
, dubbed the landslide "unfortunate", and tweeted that "We have many villages located beneath hillocks. This incident has alarmed us to rethink about such villages." * The CPIM demanded a "time bound enquiry into the true causes of this disaster".


References

{{Disasters in India in 2014 Malin landslide 2014 disasters in India Malin landslide History of Pune district 2014 in Maharashtra July 2014 in India Natural disasters in Maharashtra