Plea Filed In Supreme Court Seeking Army Deployment To Rescue Kerala Native Arjun From Karnataka Landslide Site

A public interest litigation has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking deployment of Indian Army personnel for rescue operations on National Highway 66 in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, where a landslide occurred on July 16 following heavy rainfall.

The plea states that the Karnataka government machineries exhibited utter failure and inaction during golden hours and do not have an action plan for tackling the hazardous situation. Besides deployment of Army Personnel, it is prayed that a Landslide Management Plan for vulnerable districts be put in place to deal with accidents and save valuable lives.

The PIL petition has been filed by Advocate Subhash Chandran KR.

The petitioner pointed out that, a truck driver-Arjun, a native of Kerala is trapped at the disaster site since July 16, yet the Karnataka authorities are acting with limited manpower and equipment only during office hours.

He claims that the army could have been mobilized, "given there is an army cantonment in nearby Belgavi area and Naval recourses are available with Navy at Karwar", but no efforts were taken. Allegedly, the search operations are continuing, but are not giving a productive result only because of initial inaction on the part of Karnataka government and police authorities.

"Even some groups from Kerala including persons who have expertise in managing such accidents and awarded by Indian Army tried to reach out there. The Karnataka police handle them in badly", the plea says.

The petitioner further points out that it is possible to locate the place where Arjun currently is: "It is reported that GPS signals were available from Mr. Arjun's phone for the first few days. That means the place where he lies can be located".

Lamenting the lack of apathy, the petitioner adds, "It is pitiable that he has not been recovered dead or alive even after 6 days. This shows the recalcitrant attitude of the State of Karnataka. Is it because that the dead are mostly natives of other states".

The petitioner also seeks a direction to the Respondents(Union Govt, Karnataka and Kerala Governments) to take all possible steps by clearing the entire debris round the clock to lacate the stranded human life and vehicles by using scientific methods.

Background

On July 16, a landslide occurred in Karnataka's Shirur village on National Highway 66 in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka following heavy rainfall. As a result of the landslide, mud slid down from hills across the national highway towards Gangavali river and buried under it lorries, gas tankers, vehicles and the house/hotel of a local.

As per local residents, at least one truck and three cars are still stuck under the debris left behind by the landslide. Yet, during the first 4 days, the authorities simply engaged in path clearing works with limited manpower and equipment without considering the seriousness of the situation.

Subsequently, a truck going from Karnataka to Kerala went missing and it was learnt that its last GPS location was the site of the landslide. 

The petition has been settled by Senior Advocate V Chidambaram and filed through AOR Biju P Raman.

Case Title: SUBHASH CHANDRAN KR VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ANR