Raigad (Maharashtra), Jul 20 (IANS): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde went on a trek up the steep 550-metre-high Irshalgad Fort below which a portion of the Irshalwadi village was buried in a hill slide just before midnight Wednesday, with the toll touching 12 till 4 p.m.

Shinde, who arrived here at dawn for a preliminary visit, guided and coordinated the rescue operations even as four bodies were recovered, even as intermittent rains continue to hamper the works here.

After spending a few hours with the rescue teams of Raigad police, Fire Brigade teams from various civic bodies, SDRF and NDRF teams and volunteers of the Maharashtra Mountaineers Rescue Coordination Centre (MMRCC), all of whom are contributing to the rescue mission.

Shinde returned later, sporting a full raincoat, hiking shoes, accompanied by his ministerial colleagues, officials and security personnel carrying umbrellas to shield him from the rain, and he trekked up a few hundred metres to the main tragedy spot via a narrow path, with thick vegetation on either side and a steep slope at some points.

En route, he encountered a few lucky survivors - covered with plastic sheets, shivering in the rains - who escaped the bombarding of the falling boulders and sludge barely by a few feet, but grieved for their ‘missing’ or lost friends and neighbours.

The CM stepped forward with folded hands, gently bent to console them for their losses, and promised to help in every manner to mitigate their sufferings from the devastating tragedy.

Some of the sad and shaken locals approached him and recounted how their future was wiped out in seconds and they got no opportunity to save their near and dear ones, though they were themselves fortunate to have survived the hill fall.

A young eyewitness shuddered as he recalled that they heard some loud rumbling sounds, then huge crashes and strange sounds of the massive quantities of the wet sticky mud that broke loose from the hilltop and hillsides, bringing with it small bushes and shrubs, and crashing onto the village below, like a mud-flow.

Many of the terrified villagers ran out of their dwelling, screaming, shouting and trying to gauge exactly what had happened, but could see or comprehend little in the darkness and the pouring rains, said the eyewitness, with tears in his eyes.

Owing to the inaccessible difficult terrain on the steep hills, the authorities have not been able to send heavy machines or cranes to clear the thousands of tonnes of boulders and sludge under which the tribal hamlet and its estimated 80-plus occupants were crushed.

Presently, manual work by digging with spades, moving the earth laboriously in taslas (ghamelas), dumping it at a safe distance, and then attempting to reach the victims buried below, at unknown depths of several feet to many metres, and repeating the work – even as the clock ticked away for the possible survivors underneath.

Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar said this morning that there were an estimated 228 residents in the small hamlet that was situated below a jutting hillock, a portion of which crashed. Around 80 known people are still feared buried under the wet debris and topmost priority is accorded to digging them out alive – before its too late – and the tentative cause of the tragedy is believed to be the 50 cms rains which poured here in the past three days.

Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve also footed it up to the hillside and reached the tragedy spot, interacted with the people and offered them all possible assistance.

As the work progressed, the hilly vicinity resembled a war-zone of complete devastation, with household articles either destroyed or scattered around with the occupants nowhere.

Shinde also spoke with the Indian Air Force which kept a helicopter ready for an aerial survey, search and rescue operation, but it could not be taken up owing to the inclement weather conditions in the region.

From Mumbai, the BMC has despatched three Bobcat machines and a poclain earthmover to help in the rescue operations, said BMC Commissioner I.S. Chahal.

Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said that arrangements shall be made for the victims and their families to avail free rations till their broken lives return on track, even as the government announced a compensation of Rs 500,000 to the kin of the deceased and free treatment for the injured.

Local groups, NGOs and others have made arrangements for tea, snacks or meals for the devastated families, the rescue teams and others visiting the tragedy spot.

Besides Shinde and Danve, Aditya Thackeray, ministers Aditi Tatkare, Girish Mahajan, Uday Samant, Congress state President Nana Patole, and other personalities visited the tragedy site.