The High Court has described the landslides that struck Wayanad district in Kerala, claiming over 200 lives, as another example of nature reacting to human “apathy and greed.”
The court noted that “warning signs” had appeared long ago but were ignored in favor of a development agenda aimed at economic prosperity.
The court observed that natural disasters in 2018 and 2019, the pandemic lasting nearly two years, and the recent landslides have highlighted the errors in our approach.
A division bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Syam Kumar V.M. said, “If we do not amend our ways and take affirmative remedial action now, it may be too late.”
The bench was hearing a suo motu plea initiated by the court following the July 30 landslides that obliterated three villages in Wayanad, with 119 people still unaccounted for.
The court’s suo motu PIL was launched “to persuade the state government to reflect on its current notions of sustainable development in Kerala and reconsider its policy regarding the same,” the bench stated in its August 23 order.
The court will review the state’s existing policies concerning the exploitation of natural resources, environmental preservation, forest and wildlife protection, and disaster prevention, management, and mitigation, as well as sustainable development goals.
