The Kerala High Court on Friday, 10 July directed the state government to immediately disburse ex gratia compensation to families of the seven people killed in the Wayanad tunnel road landslide, provide free hospitalisation to the injured, and hand over the bodies of the deceased to their relatives without delay. The court's intervention came as rescue teams recovered one more body, pushing the confirmed death toll to seven, with one person still missing.

What the Court Directed

A Division Bench comprising Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice A.K. Preeta made it unambiguous that relief must take precedence over questions of liability. The Bench orally observed that families should not face unnecessary hardship in performing last rites, noting that bodies were being embalmed post-mortem for transport to the deceased's native places.

The court ordered that all treatment and hospitalisation expenses — including costs incurred by bystanders attending the injured — be borne by the state for the time being. 'Ensure that treatment happens without insisting on any payment till discharge from hospital,' the Bench said, adding that expenditure could initially be treated as a charge on the project, with recovery from those ultimately found responsible to be decided later.

The Disaster: What Happened

The mudslide struck on 7 July near Meenakshi Bridge at Kalladi, where work on the Anakkompoyil-Meppadi tunnel road project — connecting Wayanad and Kozhikode districts — was underway. Rescue teams have been conducting an intensive search at the site, deploying excavators and heavy machinery. According to the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), unstable terrain and slushy conditions forced extensive manual search operations in the final stages.

Notably, construction activity at the project site had been ordered to stop in May, raising pointed questions about why workers were present when the landslide occurred on 7 July.

Judicial Oversight and Probe

The High Court's directions are part of its continuing suo motu proceedings that were initiated following the devastating 2024 Wayanad landslides. The Bench has now expanded its scrutiny to encompass the latest tunnel project tragedy, signalling close judicial oversight of rescue efforts and the circumstances that led to the disaster.

The court sought a fresh status report from the state by next week and stated it would monitor the matter on a weekly basis, with particular emphasis on prompt compensation payment and rehabilitation. The state government has separately announced a high-level expert probe into all aspects of the project.

Political and Administrative Response

The tragedy has drawn political and administrative scrutiny beyond the courtroom. With the High Court now closely watching every stage of relief, rehabilitation, and investigation, pressure is mounting on the state to demonstrate both accountability and speed of response. The court's framing — treating project expenditure as the initial charge for relief costs — effectively signals that the burden of the disaster will not fall on victims' families, regardless of how liability is eventually apportioned.