Amid a debate over the causes of the landslide that devastated Malin village, 120 km from here in Ambegaon taluk, a preliminary report by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has pointed to deforestation and levelling of ground for cultivation as the primary reasons.
“Relentless rain naturally was the trigger. But the use of heavy machinery to flatten land for agriculture may have aggravated the crumbling of the hilltop. We observed that the slope of the hill was flattened almost halfway,” said Ashim Kumar Saha, Head of the Department (Central Region), GSI.
Mr. Saha, who, along with a team of experts, has been surveying the affected area over two days, said cracks were observed on the ground where the soil was washed downhill during the “earthslip”.
“ Prima facie , the cracks imply an improper rainwater drainage system. Only a detailed report can tell us what caused the tragedy and only then can we come up with recommendations,” he said.
While agreeing that human activity had aggravated the landslide, a city-based geologist, Satish Thigale, marked out prolonged seismic activity in the Western Ghats as a systemic cause.
“Over time, seismic vibrations loosen the soft upper layer of the soil in high areas such as Malin which receive heavy rainfall. If, according to reports, there is evidence of land tampering using earthmovers, then the cracks in the soft soil spell doom for inhabitants during an ‘earthslip’,” he told The Hindu .
He, however, ruled out the suggestion that a windmill project in Khed, 50 km from the disaster spot, had a direct bearing on the landslide and the project had destroyed the stability of the hills in the area. Suresh Talekar and Dhananjay Kokane, activists, have lodged a complaint at the Ghodegaon police station, charging Agriculture Department officials with culpable homicide for having allegedly allotted 20 plots to people for agriculture, undermining the stability of the hill, which brought on the tragedy.
