Irshalwadi landslide: Anganwadi, school to be started for orphans

Mumbai: A primary school and an `anganwadi' (kindergarten) will be soon started for the 22 children who lost their parents in the landslide at Irshalwadi in Maharashtra's Raigad district, an official said on Tuesday.

The district administration along with the state Women and Child Welfare department is taking steps for the rehabilitation of these children, he added.

The Shrikant Shinde Foundation of Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde has taken responsibility of their education.

Two officials of the Women and Child Welfare department on Tuesday met the survivors who are staying in temporary houses made from containers.

An Anganwadi would be started for the children in the 3 to 6 years age group, the official said.

Many of the orphan children were studying at `ashram' schools (government-run or government-funded residential schools for tribal children) and hence away from home when the tragedy struck on July 19.

Considering the trauma they have suffered, they would also need counselling and the government will provide counsellors who are aware of the culture of the tribal Thakar community to which these children belong, the official said.

City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), a state government planning agency, would construct permanent houses for the survivors within 100 days after getting land, he said.

At least 17 of 48 houses in Irshalwadi, a village located on a hill slope, around 80 km from Mumbai, were fully or partially buried due to the landslide.

On Sunday, the National Disaster Response Force called off the search and rescue operation after recovering 27 bodies from the rubble.