This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/world/asia/otherworldly-downpour-preceded-landslide-in-india.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Otherworldly Downpour Preceded Landslide in India | Otherworldly Downpour Preceded Landslide in India |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| When the storm came to this tiny village on Wednesday morning, with a resounding blast and mere seconds of a downpour so heavy it could not be called rain, Dilip Bhagwa Lembeg was walking to his paddy fields. | |
| He heard the blast, looked up to the hill behind him, and saw that the mango trees on the hilltop were trembling. Seconds later, most of the houses in the area were gone. | He heard the blast, looked up to the hill behind him, and saw that the mango trees on the hilltop were trembling. Seconds later, most of the houses in the area were gone. |
| “I saw the whole village disappear under this mud,” he said Saturday, sitting on a tree stump halfway up the hill, looking impassively on to the rescue mission below, where dozens of officials with the National Disaster Response Force supervised a slow-moving excavation. | “I saw the whole village disappear under this mud,” he said Saturday, sitting on a tree stump halfway up the hill, looking impassively on to the rescue mission below, where dozens of officials with the National Disaster Response Force supervised a slow-moving excavation. |
| When asked where his home had been, he gestured to the farthest bulldozer, pushing its way through the thick mud that had likely enveloped his wife, mother, six daughters, and one son — all missing — as well as the 82 bodies that had been recovered by Saturday evening by the rescue mission. Mr. Lembeg, 42, said he would watch the rescue efforts until all the bodies were recovered. “I’ll find my people here,” he said. | When asked where his home had been, he gestured to the farthest bulldozer, pushing its way through the thick mud that had likely enveloped his wife, mother, six daughters, and one son — all missing — as well as the 82 bodies that had been recovered by Saturday evening by the rescue mission. Mr. Lembeg, 42, said he would watch the rescue efforts until all the bodies were recovered. “I’ll find my people here,” he said. |
| The 14 villages along this belt of mountains, home to some 22,000 people who mostly work in isolated communities as rice farmers, exist in a near pristine landscape that could be described as idyllic — waterfalls plunge down the thickly forested hills of Maharashtra’s Western Ghats, feeding the lush, terraced rice paddy fields below. | The 14 villages along this belt of mountains, home to some 22,000 people who mostly work in isolated communities as rice farmers, exist in a near pristine landscape that could be described as idyllic — waterfalls plunge down the thickly forested hills of Maharashtra’s Western Ghats, feeding the lush, terraced rice paddy fields below. |
| But on Saturday, the scene was horrific. Blocked off to the public, the road was plied by rescue vehicles, a motorcade of state ministers, and the putrid-smelling ambulances ferrying water-bloated, decomposing bodies recovered slowly from the site of the mudslide. | But on Saturday, the scene was horrific. Blocked off to the public, the road was plied by rescue vehicles, a motorcade of state ministers, and the putrid-smelling ambulances ferrying water-bloated, decomposing bodies recovered slowly from the site of the mudslide. |
| The reason for the landslide, in which 158 people are feared dead, was unclear even four days later. | The reason for the landslide, in which 158 people are feared dead, was unclear even four days later. |
| Severe weather has hit South Asia in recent days; a major landslide early Saturday morning near Nepal’s border with China killed at least eight people and left hundreds missing, officials in Nepal said. It also washed out part of a crucial highway connecting Nepal and China, and blocked a river. | Severe weather has hit South Asia in recent days; a major landslide early Saturday morning near Nepal’s border with China killed at least eight people and left hundreds missing, officials in Nepal said. It also washed out part of a crucial highway connecting Nepal and China, and blocked a river. |
| Regarding Malin, some officials suggested that deforestation of the land was the culprit. Others suggested that it was merely senseless — a freak accident, a natural disaster that had no antecedents and no explanation. According to rescue officials, the landslide was the first of its scale in the Western Ghats. | Regarding Malin, some officials suggested that deforestation of the land was the culprit. Others suggested that it was merely senseless — a freak accident, a natural disaster that had no antecedents and no explanation. According to rescue officials, the landslide was the first of its scale in the Western Ghats. |
| But others blamed the paddy cultivation, which villagers said had continued for generations, but had only recently been formalized into a government program. Saurabh Rao, the district magistrate, said that the plan was supposed to be carried out only in areas where the trees would not be displaced. But he added that the agricultural department of the state was in charge of ensuring that those conditions were met. | But others blamed the paddy cultivation, which villagers said had continued for generations, but had only recently been formalized into a government program. Saurabh Rao, the district magistrate, said that the plan was supposed to be carried out only in areas where the trees would not be displaced. But he added that the agricultural department of the state was in charge of ensuring that those conditions were met. |
| “Human intervention is involved somewhere in this,” said Sachidanand Gawada, a deputy commandant with the National Disaster Response Force, who said that the way the villagers were living — in homes and among paddy fields terraced into the slopes, must have caused some of the problem. “Step farming is dangerous.” | “Human intervention is involved somewhere in this,” said Sachidanand Gawada, a deputy commandant with the National Disaster Response Force, who said that the way the villagers were living — in homes and among paddy fields terraced into the slopes, must have caused some of the problem. “Step farming is dangerous.” |
| At a government school where the few survivors were staying, the state tribal affairs minister, the state home minister, and a local member of the legislative assembly took questions from a crowd of people lined up in the steady rain. | At a government school where the few survivors were staying, the state tribal affairs minister, the state home minister, and a local member of the legislative assembly took questions from a crowd of people lined up in the steady rain. |
| “What are you going to do?” asked Dilip Vasant Khamkad, a farmer in Bhonger, a nearby village. “We have other villages like this. What are you going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” | “What are you going to do?” asked Dilip Vasant Khamkad, a farmer in Bhonger, a nearby village. “We have other villages like this. What are you going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” |
| The answers, provided by the legislator, Dilip Walse Patil, were standard: Plant trees to counteract any deforestation, and consult national and state-level scientists to ascertain the cause of the landslide. Geological experts visited the site on Friday. | The answers, provided by the legislator, Dilip Walse Patil, were standard: Plant trees to counteract any deforestation, and consult national and state-level scientists to ascertain the cause of the landslide. Geological experts visited the site on Friday. |
| Mr. Patil also announced that the bodies would soon skip the hospital for post-mortems. They will go directly to a makeshift funeral pyre at the banks of the river, where eight unidentified bodies, including that of a tarp-shrouded child, had been cremated Saturday. | Mr. Patil also announced that the bodies would soon skip the hospital for post-mortems. They will go directly to a makeshift funeral pyre at the banks of the river, where eight unidentified bodies, including that of a tarp-shrouded child, had been cremated Saturday. |
| Other bodies were still being brought on Saturday to a small health center down the road. On Friday, Dr. Vaman Gengaje performed 22 post-mortems. The bodies were almost unidentifiable: the skin blackened, hip bones, arms, and legs broken, he surmised, from the bulldozers that were uncovering the bodies. | Other bodies were still being brought on Saturday to a small health center down the road. On Friday, Dr. Vaman Gengaje performed 22 post-mortems. The bodies were almost unidentifiable: the skin blackened, hip bones, arms, and legs broken, he surmised, from the bulldozers that were uncovering the bodies. |
| “What I did yesterday, I’ve never done in my life,” he said. “It was terrifying.” | “What I did yesterday, I’ve never done in my life,” he said. “It was terrifying.” |
| Most villagers who witnessed the calamity describe it uniformly: after heavy rains, like they had never seen before, a terrible blast came down from the sky at around 7 a.m. The cloudburst lasted for seconds — but that was enough. | Most villagers who witnessed the calamity describe it uniformly: after heavy rains, like they had never seen before, a terrible blast came down from the sky at around 7 a.m. The cloudburst lasted for seconds — but that was enough. |
| Forty-six houses were crushed, plus one new temple at the bottom of the mountain slope. | Forty-six houses were crushed, plus one new temple at the bottom of the mountain slope. |
| “It was a continuous stream of water,” said Lakshmi Dulaji Zanzare, whose house was one of a handful that remained intact after the landslide. “We couldn’t even see the trees. We couldn’t see anything.” | “It was a continuous stream of water,” said Lakshmi Dulaji Zanzare, whose house was one of a handful that remained intact after the landslide. “We couldn’t even see the trees. We couldn’t see anything.” |