 "Consider excluding Rs 120 cr from airlift charges: Kerala HC to Centre")
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre whether it can exclude around Rs 120 crore from the Rs 132 crore demanded as airlift charges for rescue operations carried out by the IAF in the state since 2006.
A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Easwaran S said if the Rs 120 crore was freed up in this manner, the amount can be utilised immediately for the rehabilitation of the landslide victims in Wayanad.
The bench asked the Centre to consider giving permission to temporarily free up the Rs 120 crore and relaxing the NDRF/SDRF norms so that the amount can be utilised for the rehabilitation purpose.
"It is for a noble cause, so the central government should not have a problem," the court said and listed the matter on January 10, 2025 to await the Centre's response on the aspect.
During the hearing, the bench also said that the sending of the bill of Rs 132 crore as airlift charges in October right after the state sought financial assistance from the Centre for rehabilitation of Wayanad, was a "psychological move".
"Remove all these psychological things," the bench said.
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A demand of Rs 132 crore has been raised upon the Kerala government by the Defence Ministry for rescue operations carried out by the IAF in the state from 2006 and after the devastating landslides that wiped away three villages in Wayanad district.
A letter dated October 22, 2024 with the subject -- settlement of outstanding airlift charges -- was received by the office of then chief secretary of the state V Venu on November 2, 2024 and contains tabulated data of the bills "not cleared" by the Kerala government for the rescue work carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
A major chunk, over Rs 100 crore, of the allegedly outstanding bills are for the rescue operations during the 2018 floods that devastated the state.
It also contains bills of over Rs 13 crore for the IAF operations in the wake of the landslides that wiped away three villages in Wayanad district on July 30.
The High Court on Wednesday said that the state government already had around Rs 61 crore in its SDRF account after accounting for existing commitments and if the Rs 120 crore was freed up, it would have Rs 180 crore for immediate utilisation towards rehabilitation of the landslide victims in Wayanad.
The lawyer for the Centre said that the central government's permission was required to temporarily free up the Rs 120 crore and that the Union government has to relax the NDRF/SDRF norms to enable utilisation of the Rs 180 crore for rehabilitation.
The bench, thereafter, asked the Centre to consider granting the relaxations to enable the state government to utilise the aforesaid amounts.
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.
The landslides that struck Kerala on July 30, devastated large parts of three villages -- Punchirimattam, Chooralmala, and Mundakkai -- along with sections of Attamala in Wayanad. According to the state government, the disaster claimed 231 lives.