[Wayanad Landslides] 'Grievance Of Survivors Not Redressed Within Two Weeks Must Be Brought Before Us': Kerala High Court

The Division Bench comprising the Division Bench of Justice A.K.Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. ordered that the Court would monitor the unredressed grievances and take action.

“In order to ensure that grievance cells are operating efficiently, we direct that if a grievance by a citizen is not redressed at the district level by the grievance cells already put in place, then irrespective of the reasons for the delay in redressing the grievance, the 7^th respondent (Office of the Kerala Disaster Management Authority) as also the KeLSA shall prepare list of grievances not redressed within the aforesaid period of two weeks and submit the same before this Court so that we can understand the reasons why the grievances have not been redressed and take appropriate measures thereof.”

Pursuant to the orders of the Court, the State government and KeLSA had set up grievance cells to address the issues faced by survivors of the landslides in Wayanad.

The Court was taking note of the psychological support provided to the victims who lost their families and homes. The Court stated that there must be some level of compulsion so that affected children attend these counselling sessions. The Court went on to state that long-term psychological support has to be offered to the affected children.

The KSDMA Member Secretary, who appeared online, submitted before the Court that counselling sessions are given to the affected children through school. It was informed that experts in the field like NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) and UNICEF were also helping the KSDMA to offer psychological support to these affected children.

Case Title: IN RE: PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN KERALA v STATE OF KERALA

Case Number: WP(C) 28509/ 2024 & Connected Cases