Wayanad landslides an instance of nature reacting to human apathy, greed: Kerala HC

KOCHI: The landslides that hit Wayanad district in Kerala claiming over 200 lives was just another instance of nature reacting to human "apathy and greed", the High Court here has said.

The court said that the "warning signs" had appeared a long time ago but "we chose to ignore them in pursuit of a development agenda that would supposedly put our state on the high road to economic prosperity".

It said that the natural disasters in 2018 and 2019, the pandemic that persisted for nearly two years and the recent landslides "have shown us the error of our ways".

"If we do not mend our ways and take affirmative remedial action now, perhaps it will be too late," a bench of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Syam Kumar V M said while hearing a plea initiated on its own by the court following the July 30 landslides that completely wiped away three villages in Wayanad with 119 people still unaccounted for.

The court suo motu initiated the PIL "to persuade the state government to introspect on its currently held notions for sustainable development in the state of Kerala and revisit its policy regarding the same", the bench said in its order of August 23.

The bench said the court will take stock of the state's existing policies in relation to exploitation of natural resources, preservation of the environment, forests and wildlife, prevention, management and mitigation of natural disasters and sustainable development goals.

"It was felt that an intervention by this court was required to gather information, and requisition assistance from institutions and agencies that can assist in the identification of ecologically sensitive areas in the state, and help the state in reformulating its policies in the areas mentioned above," it said.

The bench also outlined the stages by which it was going to achieve the goals for which the PIL was initiated.

It said it will proceed in three stages, with the first one being focused on gathering scientific data regarding the manner in which ecologically sensitive areas in the state can be identified, and thereafter proceed to identify and notify them district wise.

"We will also monitor the rescue, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Wayanad district on a weekly basis," it said.

In stage two, data will be gathered with regard to the desirable composition of regulatory agencies and advisory boards that would enable such agencies and boards to function effectively towards achieving the objectives for which they have been constituted, it said.

"The data gathered will be placed before the state government for its consideration so that suitable amendments can be effected to existing statutes, rules or regulations.

"In stage three, we propose to collect data from the people residing in ecologically sensitive areas in the state, through the Local Self Government department of the state, so that the state can re-formulate its policies with regard to infrastructural development, tourism, exploitation of natural resources, and preservation of environment, forests and wildlife..." it said.

As a part of that, the state shall conduct the necessary environmental impact assessment studies and hold adequate public hearings to ascertain the views of persons or residents of the locality concerned, it added.

The bench has also directed the Centre and Kerala government to file affidavits clarifying whether in the wake of the natural disasters that have occurred in the state, they propose to increase the number of subject experts as mandated under the Disaster Management Act (DMA) 2005.

It also asked them to clarify whether the Advisory Committees as contemplated under the DMA have been constituted at the national, state and district levels and if so, the composition of the said panels as well as the details of the Disaster Management Plans prepared at the national, state and district levels in accordance with the DMA, together with details of the latest updates to the said plans.

In addition to these, the Centre and Kerala government also have to state in affidavit the details of the funds allocated for carrying out the activities and programmes set out in the respective Disaster Management Plans and details regarding the steps taken by the Central government to include a checklist of safety measures to be adopted in landslide prone areas in the Building Rules applicable in the state.

The court has given them three weeks to file their affidavits containing these details.

"We make it clear that in view of the expediency required in this matter, we expect all the respondents to strictly adhere to the time limits specified by this court for filing affidavits and other documents," it said.