The Kerala High Court granted the State government two more weeks to inform the court of the long-term measures being taken to prevent landslides in areas such as Wayanad, in the aftermath of the Kalladi debris slip, on Friday.

A Division Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice A.K. Preetha was considering the suo motu petition initiated in connection with the Chooralmala landslide in 2024.

Regarding the Kalladi debris slip, the State government reported that short-term measures such as the suspension of the project, a safety audit, the stabilisation and removal of muck, protection of the at-risk population, initiating penal actions, and hazard sweeps of similar landslide-prone sites have already been implemented.

The court granted the time extension to explain the government’s stance on the management of excavated material from road construction projects. It further said that the State should report on establishing a monitoring cell to oversee the environmental clearance (EC) granted for construction activities, the process for consulting area residents before a project is launched, and the re-evaluation of project reports pending for more than three years.

The debris slip took place on July 7 at the site of the Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi Twin Tube Tunnel Road Project in Wayanad, where a mass of earth descended on the Meenakshi Bridge near Kalladi, claiming eight lives and injuring 10 people. The project was being executed by Konkan Railway.

The amicus curiae had informed the court that the District Disaster Management Authority had ‘foreseen’ the debris slip. The authority had warned the executing agencies about the build-up of nearly one lakh cubic metres of excavated earth that ultimately caved in at the site.

Published - August 07, 2026 08:24 pm IST