N.S.K. Umesh, staff officer to the Chief Secretary, will replace Renu Raj as Collector of Ernakulam district. Ms. Raj, appointed Collector around seven months ago, is being transferred to Wayanad as District Collector even as a fire in the waste dumping yard in Brahmapuram continues to smoulder.
Though the shifting out of Ms. Raj is seen as part of a wider reshuffle of IAS officers, including District Collectors, her handling of the fire at Brahmapuram is being cited as one of the reasons for her transfer.
Mr. Umesh, a graduate in electrical engineering, is an officer of the 2015 IAS batch. He garnered a lot of attention from the public for his dedicated interventions in Wayanad relief camps during the epic floods of 2018. He was then Wayanad Sub Collector. He is expected to assume charge on Thursday.
