The court was hearing a plea initiated by it for prevention and management of natural disasters in the state in the wake of the landslides that devastated three villages in Wayanad district and claimed over 200 lives
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the state government to furnish a utilisation certificate in respect of the SDRF funds already set aside for or spent on past commitments before seeking additional amounts from the Centre for rehabilitation of Wayanad’s disaster-hit areas.
A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Easwaran S also said that the court will act as mediator between the state and the Centre on the issue.
The court said that the funds in the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) were essentially on paper and therefore, the state government must ensure that the Centre is aware of the actual situation in order to secure additional assistance.
For this the state government should furnish utilisation certificates with regard to funds spent on other commitments and provide a detailed statement on how much more assistance is required from the Centre.
It also told the state government that the figures need to be clear.
The court directed the Principal Secretary to submit a report before the bench by December 18.
The court was hearing a plea initiated by it for prevention and management of natural disasters in the state in the wake of the landslides that devastated three villages in Wayanad district and claimed over 200 lives.
Last week, the court had criticised the state government and its disaster management authority (SDMA), saying their figures regarding the funds in connection with rehabilitation of the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad were “inaccurate”.
It had also said that when asking for assistance from the Centre, the state government should provide accurate figures.
The court had also observed that auditing was not accurate and the funds were not being handled properly.