Kerala High Court raises concerns over Sunburn Festival in Wayanad

The Kerala High Court recently directed the Advocate General to provide complete details regarding the Sunburn festival scheduled to be held on New Year’s eve in Wayanad [In Re: Prevention and Management of Natural Disasters in Kerala].Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Easwaran S expressed concerns about the electronic dance music festival slated to take place in the district which is still recovering from the effects of the deadly landslides that obliterated two villages in July 2024, led to the death of more than 250 people with 118 people still missing."Barely after one disaster, now plunging into another," Justice Nambiar remarked. He questioned the preparedness of authorities in handling the crowd for the Sunburn festival."Disaster management authority is supposed to prevent disasters also. Six months after the disaster, you are having parties there? Please inform us about this. Get instructions. Sunburn Musical Festival in Wayanad? Do you know the crowd for this festival? You should have filed an application before the Advocate General. File an IA. We will have it tomorrow only for this."The Court raised serious concerns about the district hosting such an event and also asked Advocate General Gopalakrishna Kurup to look into the same."Enthokkeya ith (what is this )how many people are coming? Permission to have it in Wayanad. Please look into this AG Kurup. We have already directed studies on carrying capacity, forget that, this you are talking about how many people. Just get instructions we need to know complete details of the program. When is this ? What is this ? some sense should be there. We need complete details of this program on this, if permission has been granted, which is very likely, who is this character that's granting permission, what is the expected crowd, how are they planning to control the traffic and the program on new year's.".The Court’s remarks came amid discussions on rehabilitation efforts following the catastrophic landslide.A counsel informed the Court about a complaint filed by two senior citizens of Wayanad before the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and the District Collector, flagging illegal constructions by Boche Bhumiputra Private Limited in the landslide-prone Chulika Estate where the Sunburn festival is scheduled to be held on December 31.It was stated in the complaint that over 20,000 attendees are expected, with 10,000 tickets already sold out.The complaint highlighted risks from heavy rains, inadequate infrastructure and wildlife threats and sought cancellation of the event under Section 30 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.The Court sought details from the State regarding the festival and posted the case for further hearing tomorrow. .The Court today also addressed the State's request for the relaxation of norms governing the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). The Advocate General reported that ₹638 crores of the ₹700.5 crores in the SDRF account were committed, leaving only some amount for immediate use.The State and the Central governments have been at loggerheads over what the former claims to be non-release of funds by the Centre for the relief efforts.The Court today directed the Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundareshan to ensure that the Central Government responds by January 10 next year and emphasised the urgency of utilising funds for Wayanad's rehabilitation.This issue will be heard next in January 2025..[Read Order]