Rescue operations in one of Maharashtra’s grimmest disasters entered its final phase on Wednesday, as rain-battered National Disaster Response Force personnel pushed on with the arduous task of extricating bodies from the spot of the Malin landslide.
The rescue men, working with an inspired single-mindedness to their task at hand, have recovered 153 bodies so far amid the stench-ridden debris at the site of the catastrophe.
NDRF Commandant Alok Avasthy asserted that the relief operations would end “only when the villagers were completely satisfied.” And even then, at least one team of NDRF personnel would remain put near Malin, he assured. The bodies of 59 men, 73 women and 21 children have been retrieved so far. The carcasses of 53 animals, too, have been recovered.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite the continuing mass cremations, forceful displays of spirit by the survivors are beginning to dispel some of the gloom cast by the disaster.
Pramila Lembhe, who was saved by the cries of her three-month-old baby, Rudra, is determined not to abandon Malin despite the catastrophe.
“This is where we were living and this is where we will continue to live. We do not have anyplace else to go to,” she said. Pramila and her baby, soon to be discharged from the Manchar hospital, were found miraculously alive in the debris nine hours after the earthslip.
ADVERTISEMENT
While many ordinary civilians have rushed to provide succor for those afflicted by the tragedy, 50 Class X students chipped in with a cash donation to help little Rudra – acclaimed as ‘the miracle baby’ - in a heartwarming gesture.
Likewise, Meena Lembhe, who was pulled out of the debris, too hopes to be able to continue living there, despite the trauma of the tragedy.