THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: S Venkateshpathi, the new District Collector is in the meeting mode. Just a day after he took charge a slew of meetings took place at his office on the second floor of the Civil Station at Kudappanakunnu. The new Collector gives a lot of emphasis on focused approach. The reason according to him is that many of the projects become unviable after plans are made. So he wants to identify projects that can be implemented.
“District administration will identify projects and short list them in a month’s time,” he says. However, his focus was on three major issues which needs immediate solution. First is to deal with the waste management. As the first step towards it the Collector is in talks with Suchitwa Mission to identify solutions. Next on his agenda is to coordinate with the different departments to execute innovative projects. Without coordination such projects will not benefit people, says Venkateshpathi. Developing stand alone power solutions for government district under him is another area the new Collector will be focusing on. This means that more solar powered offices may come in vogue soon.
The 2009 batch IAS officer is not new to the city. In 2013-14 he worked as Corporation Secretary for 16 months and has also worked with the previous Collector Biju Prabhakar on a lot of projects such as Operation Anantha, tourism projects, animal birth control program (ABC) etc. He says the projects initiated by his predecessor will be continued. “Some of the projects such as ABC, drains, waste management etc are interconnected and has to be dealt with in a comprehensive manner,” he says. The immediate challenge he will be facing is land acquisition for the airport expansion. The previous Collector had drawn flak from locals for initiating land acquisition process. Venkateshpathi says he will hold meetings with locals and people’s representatives to create awareness.
He shared his Karipur experience when land was acquired for the airport there. Tourism is another area he sees as a huge potential for the district. “I go to the Museum and Zoo with my children aged 5 and 3. Though I am from Chennai I am not a beach person,” he says.
He says he enjoyed his term as corporation secretary and atributed it to the team work. At his office he plans to spend more time to deal with the problems of people visiting him.