Rescue operations in the Malin landslide officially drew to a close on Thursday, eight days after the earthslip reduced 44 houses in the village to rubble.
The final death toll was pegged at 151, correcting the earlier toll figure of 153 given by the Pune District control room on Wednesday.
“146 bodies have been recovered intact, while those of the remaining five, unfortunately, could only be retrieved in parts,” said Pune District Magistrate, Saurabh Rao.
Officials said that while the mutilated body parts had earlier thrown up some confusion in placing accurate estimates, the matter was sorted out and the toll stood at 151, with 59 men, 73 women and 21 children who died in the catastrophe.
Mr. Rao said all decisions pertaining to the identity of the deceased and their last rites were taken in close consultation with the villagers and medical teams who assisted in the operation.
“We have also discussed questions of rehabilitation and resettlement with the villagers,” he said at a press meet in Malin. Those living in the afflicted area have been shifted to ‘ashram shalas’ in neighbouring villages, while other residents have been urged to move safer places following inputs given by Geological Survey of India (GSI) officials, who have alerted officials of more landslides in the region in the wake of continuous rainfall there.