At least 22 people were killed and over 100 feared trapped under the debris of a massive landslide in Irshalwadi, a hilly tribal village in Khalapur tehsil of Maharashtra’s Raigad district, on Wednesday night. The district has received heavy rainfall for the last 48 hours.

The search and rescue operation resumed for the second day after the authorities earlier halted the operation fearing possible landslide during the night amid incessant rainfall.Due to unstable terrain in the village, search and rescue teams were facing hurdles to use heavy machines in carrying out the operation. They had to clear the large portion of mud manually. Due to tough topography, heavy machinery such as earth movers and excavators could not be moved to the hilltop.

Disaster management operations and a base camp have been set up at the foothills as it is impossible for JCB machines or any other vehicle to reach the disaster spot. To reach the site of the landslide it taking one-half hour for a person to walk from the foothills and is accessible only to able-bodied men and trekkers, who are involved in the manual rescue operations at the moment.Parts of the coastal district experienced a flood-like situation due to heavy rains, damaging at least 125 houses. 17 out of 28 dams were overflowing after several places received over 200 mm of rainfall in 24 hours.