District Collector R. Girija, who has successfully steered the historic natural stream restoration project at Aranmula against all odds, is leaving Pathanamthitta after completing 20 months in office.
The 2009-batch IAS officer says she is a contented soul. “I am happy that I could do justice to my job in its real sense,” she told The Hindu . The IAS officer received national attention in January when the administration completed restoration of the Karimaramthodu stream, which was illegally converted by a private party in the name of an airport project in Aranmula Puncha 13 years ago. Though the Kerala High Court had ordered restoration of the natural stream in June, 2014, the project remained a non-starter till Ms Girija assumed charge in August 2016. She completed the stream restoration in a time-bound manner with the backing of the government and the judiciary later. The Collector also played a key role in the revival of paddy cultivation in Aranmula Puncha.
Sabarimala festival
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Revenue Minister E. Chandrashekharan had lauded the Collector’s work in the smooth conduct of the Sabarimala pilgrimage season. Ms. Girija directly monitored the green protocol implementation at Sabarimala. 1col
The Collector had ordered restoration of an illegally converted stream on the Believers Church Medical College premises in Thiruvalla and another three acres of illegally converted paddy land at Perunthuruthy. Her intervention to check illegal land conversions and granite quarrying had irked the land-quarry lobby. The district leaderships of the CPI(M) and CPI had even staged marches to the Collectorate protesting against the Collector’s action in the settlers’ issue at Chengara and the tribal land issue at Kollamula in Ranni.
