Kerala HC to hear suo motu proceedings on July 2024 landslide in Wayanad

The Kerala High Court will on Friday (July 10, 2026) take up for hearing the suo motu proceedings regarding the July 2024 landslide in Wayanad in which over 230 people died.

The proceedings had been initiated in August 2024, when cases connected with quarrying and construction activities in Wayanad came up for hearing. The High Court had then said that the State government should first evolve a comprehensive policy on the developmental activities that could be permitted in different areas of the State. It should thereafter examine, on a case to case basis, whether there is a need to grant any licence/permit for any developmental activity in a particular area concerned or to renew such licence/permit, taking into account the inherent nature of the land, the availability of natural resources, the report of the biodiversity boards, and the impact that any such activity would have on the ecological balance of the region and other environmental factors.

On its part, the State government is expected to place a factual status report on Tuesday’s Kalladi debris slip in Wayanad before the court. The court has directed the amicus curiae and other stakeholders of the suo motu case to be present during the hearing.