NGT impleads Kerala, T.N. govts. in suo motu case on Wayanad landslides

National Green Tribunal takes suo motu cognisance of Wayanad landslides, directs Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments to file reports on landslide-prone areas 

The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal has taken suo motu cognisance of the devastating landslides in Wayanad and has directed the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments to file reports on landslide-prone areas in the two States. 

The Bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati on August 2 expressed deep concerns about the incident, which has claimed over 300 lives so far in Mundakkai and Chooralmala, in Wayanad.

When the standing counsel for Kerala noted that nearly 90% of the houses at the incident sites were part of earlier settlements, Justice Sathyanarayana remarked that the terrain, characterised by loose soil rather than rocky ground, can only support a limited amount of development and that any further construction in landslide-prone areas must be halted. 

She then questioned the State governments’ reluctance to implement the recommendations from the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, led by ecologist Madhav Gadgil, and the High-Level Working Group, chaired by renowned scientist K. Kasturirangan.

The Bench impleaded the Chief Secretary to Government of Kerala; Kerala State Disaster Management Authority; District Collector, Wayanad; District Collector, Idukki; and the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forests in the case to not only examine how the incident happened, but also to identify measures to prevent similar losses in the future.

Justice Sathyanarayana remarked that private individuals should not be permitted to construct resorts in fragile areas; instead, the government’s tourism department should oversee and manage tourism in such locations. “You allow everyone to build resorts, and they make money. Now, who is at loss? For no fault of theirs, innocent lives are lost,” she said.

In a related petition taken up suo motu by the Bench concerning landslide risk in the Western Ghats districts of Tamil Nadu, the Bench impleaded the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu; Principal Secretary to Department of Environment, Climate Change and Forests; Commissioner of Revenue and Disaster Management Department; Chairperson, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board; District Collector, Nilgiris; and District Collector, Coimbatore.