‘I didn’t fall asleep that day; Ernakulam District Collector Dr. Renuraj. ‘Was the late holiday announced because the collector fell asleep?’ The answer is to those who have raised questions including. Speaking at the meet the press program organized by the Ernakulam Press Club, the Collector’s explanation was when he said that people would want to know what happened that day.
“If there was any danger without announcing the holiday, you would have told back. The collector also explained that he is 100 percent convinced of the decision of that day and has not made a mistake. Last Thursday, following the children went to schools at 8.25 in the morning, the Collector declared a holiday, leading to severe criticism and trolls from the public. Later, the media tried to contact the collector, but he did not pick up the phone, leading to criticism.
“Everybody found different reasons in the matter. “I don’t know if there is any point in telling my side,” he explained. “There was no red alert that day. Therefore, leave should not be given according to law. The early morning warning showed more rain. It was also raining heavily in the morning. The warning at 7.30 said that there will be heavy rain and wind. And it happened. In the followingnoon, the water level in all the rivers rose.
It is understandable that there will be inconvenience when a holiday is announced suddenly. And right. There is no harm in complaining. If I were in that position, I would be inconvenient too. There was no implementation without making such a decision between inconvenience and safety. A warning is informational only. At the same time, a decision will have to be taken looking at what the real facts are. No holiday is declared and children should decide to go to school till evening. If you had decided to let the children go in the followingnoon, you would have said no if there was a flood, overflowing rivers and danger at that time. It was said that leave should have been given even if it was a little late.
Everyone had a hard time and would definitely take care not to. Criticism is always welcome. That’s how you learn and move forward. But I am 100 percent convinced of the decision I had to make at that time. I don’t think I made a mistake. Fortunately or unfortunately, red alert had to be announced in the district following one and a half hours. If we had not told that time, we would have had to declare a holiday anyway at 10 o’clock,” said the collector.
