High court faces a flood of petitions

KOCHI: More and more petitions are being filed before the high court in relation to the floods that occurred last month. The demands raised include effective disaster fund utilization, constitution of a tribunal for disaster relief claims, appointment of inquiry commission, and to declare the floods as a man-made disaster.
In the petition filed by high court lawyer K R Sunil, a court directive to constitute a claims tribunal is being sought.A district judge should man the tribunal to pass final awards of reliefs and compensation on the recommendation of district-level committees constituted by the state government, it is demanded.
The petitioner also seeks implementation of a state-wide audio-visual warning or alert system to caution citizens of a probable disaster or calamity.
A petition filed through advocate K B Pradeep said the government should be asked to direct local self-government institutions to collect empirical data of homeless senior citizens and destitute women and children who were affected by the disaster and report the data to the district administration to ensure compensation from the chief minister's distress relief fund (CMDRF).
Another petition filed by environmentalist C R Neelakandan through advocate T K Ajithkumar seeks the appointment of an inquiry commission to find out if there was any negligence on the part of the KSEB or irrigation department in releasing water from reservoirs that led to the floods.
Yet another petition filed by Human Rights Protection Mission based at Kavanad in Kollam through advocate C Unnikrishnan seeks to declare the floods as a manmade disaster, to appoint an inquiry commission, and to maintain all dams strictly on the basis of dam operation and maintenance manual.