Hyderabad: Former District Collector of Ernakulam Renu Raj has been in the headlines following the Kerala High Court's scathing remarks on her skipping court proceedings in relation to a suo motu petition filed regarding the Brahmapuram solid waste management centre fire incident. Although she has been transferred to Wayanad as a District Collector along with other bureaucrats, the critical observations made by the High Court on Raj is being seen as being the main reason behind her transfer.
Raj, a civil servant of the 2015 batch who was earlier posted in Alappuzha was transferred to Ernakulam in July 2022 as the District Collector. She had earlier worked as the Director of the Urban Department.
Trouble started for Raj following a massive fire at a waste management plant in Brahmapuram on March 2. The fire which is yet to be doused totally led to several areas of the district in smoke. The severity of the fire was such that Navy and Army helicopters had to be called in to douse the flames.
The Kerala High Court on March 7, directed Raju, the then District Collector of Ernakulam to submit an affidavit on the fire by Friday detailing the reason behind the fire and the chain of events leading to the incident. Instructing Raju not to stay detached from the issue, the High Court stated as a constitutional court it is the custodian of the citizen's rights enshrined in the constitution.
Following the scathing words by the High Court, the district administration on Wednesday ordered the closure of all educational institutions for the next two days. Official sources said that a whooping 50,000 tons of waste have been on fire releasing toxic smoke into the air.
Even though the State Government has asked locals to wear masks when they venture outside, it does not seem to help the situation much as the Air Quality Indes in Kochi remained in the 'poor' category for six days after the fire broke out. Renu has been replaced with NSK Umesh, staff officer to the Chief Secretary as the District Collector of Ernakulam.
