Wayanad: The Member Secretary of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) told the High Court on Friday that steps were being taken to remove debris from rivers formed after the Wayanad landslides ahead of monsoon season.

The Division Bench of the Court, comprising Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Easwaran S, was hearing the suo motu case initiated by the court in the aftermath of large-scale landslides that hit Wayanad on July 30, 2024. The court has been monitoring the rehabilitation activities undertaken by the state and the support offered by the Centre since then.

KSDMA submitted before the Court that the assessment had been completed. Since the debris removal needs to be completed before the start of the monsoon, they are resorting to Section 50 of the Disaster Management Act, at least in the majorly habituated areas before the monsoon. 

The member Secretary detailed the actions to date towards the removal. He said that they had assessed the volume of the debris. A committee has been appointed to come up with details on the amount and types of materials. Further, he submitted that a material processing unit was decided upon as it was required to sort the different types of materials. Additionally, it was submitted that the materials recovered would be used for 'river training works' – to train the river back to its original course. The recovered materials will be primarily used for this. The rest of the materials will be used for townships, road works, and in-filling the land.

It was further submitted that they plan to conduct the debris removal exercise in the human-inhabited areas—the Chooralmala belt, Mundakkai belt, and Attamala belt—from March to June. The court asked for work updates by the first week of March. The case will be posted on 3 March 2025.
(With LiveLaw inputs)