The State had informed the Court that out of the total ₹782.99 crore available in the National Disaster Response Fund, around ₹120 crore is to be paid to the Center towards the arrears of air transport services provided in 2006 , 2016, 2017 and ₹60 crore for others. pending invoices. Besides this, the state said there are other commitments, leaving only ₹61.03 crore available.

The Court orally observed that there is no pressing urgency to recover the unpaid amount from the State at this stage. Regarding the reminder sent in October 2024 for the payment of debts, the Court declared: “This is the letter sent from New Delhi on October 22 to settle the unpaid airfare charges. why would Delhi send the payment of air fare charges relating to 2016, 2017 magically in October 2024. when in 6 six years it was not working… 2016, 2017 also magically, why would they send- they a recall on October 22, 2024. The recall came because the landslide happened in July and after that the requests started coming in. so when someone applies you say you are already in debt. It’s psychology. what we want to do here is remove all these psychological things. »

The State has already filed A Executive summary showing past commitments and planned future expenditures.

The Court was of the view that if the State government was relieved of its arrears through relaxation of SDRF/NDRF norms, then these funds could be used for immediate relief to Wayanad.

He said, “We are informed that the matter can be taken up with the Central Government so that the Central Government can consider granting necessary relaxations. The Central Government may consider the issue of relaxation of SDRF/NDRF norms to enable the State Government to immediately utilize the above amounts for the purpose of rehabilitation of landslide victims in Wayanad.

The Court therefore directed the Central government to examine the application and take a position by January 10, 2025.

The matter will be listed again tomorrow, where the Court will examine the feasibility of a proposal to hold the Sunburn festival in Wayanad for the New Year celebrations. He said orally:

“…we are already carrying out studies on carrying capacity. You talk about the large number of people coming to Wayanad for the New Year. We need full details, do you have permission. Who grants such permissions and what is the expected crowd? How will crowds and traffic be managed? Having just emerged from one disaster, I am now plunging into another disaster. »

Case Title: In Re: Prevention and Management of Natural Disasters in Kerala V, State of Kerala

Case number: WP(C) 28509/2024 and connected cases