What happened on 19 July, 2023 in Irshalgad appears to be a repeat of what had happened in Malin and Taliye villages over the last decade in the Sahyadri ranges of Western Ghats.
On 30 July 2014, a landslide occurred in the Malin village in the Ambegaon tehsil of the Pune district of Maharashtra, claiming 151 lives.
On 22 July, 2021, a massive hillock came crashing down on the Taliye village in Mahad tehsil of Raigad district, killing 85 persons.
The three incidents have taken place in the month of July, when the southwest monsoon is at its peak.
In Malin, the landslide, hit early in the morning while residents were asleep, was believed to have been caused by heavy rainfall, killing at least 151 people. The entire Malin village was wiped out from the map as the landslide originated from the neighbouring hill. About 44 to 46 separate houses were believed to have been buried in the landslide. 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. He revealed that the village itself was missing. He alerted the MSRTC depot, which relayed the information to district authorities.
On 22 July, 2021, a massive hillock came crashing down on the Taliye village in Mahad tehsil of Raigad district, razing to the ground 35-40 houses. A total of 85 persons died in the incident. The collapse of the hill top and the debris coming down because of torrential rain is one of the causes of the incident, according to a preliminary report from the Geological Survey of India (GIS), which also carried out investigations.
In all the three incidents - Malin, Taliye and Irshalwadi - it has been noticed that there had been over 300 mm plus rainfall two to three days prior.
Asked about the repeated landslides and vulnerability, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “Vulnerability spots are changing. Those marked vulnerable are safe whereas those non-vulnerable are faced with incidents. We all know that climate change is a matter of concern. Weather pattern is changing…earlier the rains that you got in a month's time you are getting the same in just a few days.”
Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare said that there are vulnerable spots in the Sahyadri ranges. “The only option is to relocate the vulnerable villages and resettle them. But the people have to be ready for it,” he said, adding that there are several villages which are below valleys and mountains.