Court must monitor flood relief operations in Kerala: Petitioner to SC

New Delhi: A public interest writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday asking the court to monitor the flood relief operations in Kerala.

Relief work is being carried out in flood-ravaged Kerala with assistance from Centre and states. The purchase of medicine and food items, rebuilding devastated homes, cleaning up the houses, repairing roads and building infrastructure is currently being undertaken.

In his PIL, petitioner Siji Antony said that the court should oversee the proper implementation of the rehabilitation scheme.

Further, the PIL also requested the court to judicially examine the response of various authorities to the natural calamity so as to assess the lapses and make it swifter in the future.

The petitioner also demanded that the national disaster management plan to be updated with lessons learnt from the Kerala floods.

At the outset, the petitioner submitted that this is not an adversarial litigation, but for judicial review of the administrative measures undertaken by authorities in the aftermath of the natural disaster which claimed over 300 lives and displacement of 7.24 lakh in relief camps.

He said this was necessary for the state of Kerala as well as for more effective implementation of rescue and rehabilitation measures anywhere in the country.

The petitioner submitted that early warnings and timely response would have reduced the casualties in Kerala. Anthony added that if the National Disaster Management Plan been properly implemented, the magnitude and the after effect of natural disaster in the state of Kerala would have been lesser.

He said the people of Kerala in general and those living along the river beds are under constant fear of their Right to Life.

Defective planning, non-existence of any ‘Environment Impact Assessment’ for any project within Kerala, and the rising water level in the Mullaperiyar dam are worrying factors.

Further, the petition stated, adequate loan waiver or delay in collection of loan amounts was necessary as most people including daily wage employees, salaried employees, professionals and businessmen are all facing a severe financial crunch.