Kochi, Apr 10 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Thursday said that the Union government and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) choosing not to direct banks to waive off loans of the victims of the Wayanad landslides, despite it being categorised as 'severe', was a "complete abdication" of responsibility by them.

A bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Easwaran S noted that while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) does not have the power to compel banks to write off loans of the disaster affected persons, the NDMA is empowered under the Disaster Management Act to do so.

"We might emphasise that in these proceedings, we are confronted with a situation where the natural disaster in question has been categorised as 'severe' by the Union government itself, and yet the NDMA has not chosen to even consider exercising its power under the statutory provision to direct the banks to waive/write off the loans.

"In our view, this is nothing but a complete abdication of the responsibility of the Union government and the NDMA," the bench said.

The High Court further said that in situations where a majority of the lending banks are seen resorting to "shylockian methods for realisation of loans" advanced to persons, including those affected by a severe natural disaster, it expected the Union government to live up to its reputation as the Chief Executive in a welfare State and "come to the aid of hapless citizens who have lost their source of livelihood".

The High Court also pointed out that, in all, 12 banks together account for a total of 3,220 accounts in the disaster affected area and their total exposure amounted to Rs 35.30 crore which was "not very high".

Furthermore, the Kerala Bank, which had an exposure of close to Rs five crore, completely waived off the loans of the affected persons, the bench noted.

"Considering the nature of the disaster and its categorisation by the Union government as a 'severe disaster', one would expect the banks concerned to emulate the example of the Kerala Bank and write off the loans availed by the people of the affected area.

"In fact, one would expect the banks to further take care of the survivors of the landslide by providing them with appropriate support to build back their lives by sanctioning fresh loans as per the requirement of the borrowers without charging any penal interest for default," the bench said.

It further said that since the total exposure of the 12 banks was not very high, the Kerala Bank waiving off loan amounts of around Rs five crore and the Centre categorising the Wayanad landslides as of 'severe' nature, these facts should be sufficient to "nudge" the Union government and the NDMA to consider exercising their discretion under the Disaster Management Act in favour of the disaster victims.

"We direct the Union government/NDMA to deliberate on whether the situation projected in these proceedings calls for the invocation of the provisions of the Disaster Management Act to direct banks to waive their loans advanced to victims of the natural disaster at Wayanad," the bench said.

The observations and directions came in the wake of the central government filing an affidavit earlier in the week stating that according to the RBI's Master Directions on Natural Calamities, the loans of the Wayanad landslides victims can only be restructured or rescheduled.

During the day's hearing, the bench also directed the state government to take adequate measures, including removal of debris, to ensure there is not another disaster like the one last year.

"Preparatory measures should start before the monsoons. It has already started raining now. The NDMA should liaise with the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to avert any possible disaster this year," the High Court said.

The bench was hearing a PIL initiated by the court on its own in the wake of the Wayanad landslides, aimed at improving disaster prevention and management in Kerala.

A major landslide struck the Mundakkai and Chooralmala regions on July 30 last year, almost completely decimating both areas. The disaster left hundreds injured, claimed over 200 lives, and 32 persons remain missing. PTI HMP HMP KH

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Centre, NDMA abdicated responsibility on loan waiver for Wayanad disaster victims: Kerala HC

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