E.

Sreedharan
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E. Sreedharan
Born

12 June 1932 (age 82)

Palakkad district, Kerala, India

Other names

Metro Man

Alma mater

University College of Engg.,Jawaharlal Nehru

Technological University, Kakinada

Occupation

Former managing director ofDMRC

Known for

Konkan Railway, Delhi Metroand Other Related Rail

Developments

Awards

Padma Vibhushan, Padma Shri, Chevalier de la

Lgion d'honneur, Lifetime Achievement award,
[1]

Several honorary doctorates.

Delhi Metro

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan is a retired Indian Engineering Service (IES) officer popularly known
as the "Metro Man". He is credited for changing the face of public transport in India by his
leadership for building the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro when he served as the managing
director of Delhi Metro between 19952012.[2] He was awarded the Padma Shri by the
Government of India in 2001,[3] the Padma Vibhushan in 2008,[4] the Chevalier de la Lgion
d'honneur[3] in 2005 and named one of Asia's Heroes by TIME magazine in 2003. [5][6]
Contents
[hide]

1 Early life
o

1.1 Career as a lecturer

2 Government career
o

2.1 Kolkata Metro

2.2 Cochin Shipyard Limited

3 On Contract
o

3.1 Konkan Railway

3.2 Delhi Metro

3.3 Kochi Metro

3.4 Other Metros

4 Awards and accolades

5 Biography

6 Family

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

Early life[edit]
E. Sreedharan was born on 12 June 1932 in Pattambi in the Palakkad district of Kerala.[7][8] His
family hails from Karukaputhur, near Koottanad, part of Thrithala legislative assembly, Palakkad
district, Kerala. He completed his education at the Basel Evangelical Mission Higher Secondary
School and then went to the Victoria College in Palghat. He later on completed his Civil
Engineering from the Government Engineering College, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh known
as JNTUK.

Career as a lecturer[edit]
For a short tenure, he worked as a lecturer in Civil engineering at the Government
Polytechnic, Kozhikode[7][8] and a year at the Bombay Port Trust as an apprentice.
Later he joined the Indian Engineering Service (IES), after clearing ESE-1953 conducted by the
UPSC. His first assignment was in the Southern Railway as a Probationary Assistant Engineer in
December 1954.

Government career[edit]

Pamban Bridge

In December 1964, a cyclone washed away parts of Pamban Bridge that

connected Rameswaram to mainland Tamil Nadu. The Railways set a target of six months for the
bridge to be repaired while Sreedharan's boss, under whose jurisdiction the bridge came,
reduced it to three months. Sreedharan was put in-charge of the execution and he restored the
bridge in just 46 days.[7][8]The Railway minister's Award was given to him in recognition of this
achievement.

Kolkata Metro[edit]
Main article: Kolkata Metro
In 1970, as the deputy chief engineer, he was put in charge for implementation, planning and
design of Calcutta metro, the first ever metro in India.[7] To everyone's surprise, Sreedharan not
only completed this much heralded project but also laid down the foundation of modern
infrastructure engineering in India. He was taken off this post in 1975. [9]

Cochin Shipyard Limited[edit]

Main article: Cochin Shipyard
When Sreedharan joined the Cochin Shipyard in October 1979,[2] the agency was undergoing a
phase of unproductivity. The production of its first ship MV Rani Padmini had been delayed for a
long period.[9] When Sreedharan took over, he turned the fortunes of the shipyard around and
made sure its first ship was built while he was its chairman and managing director (CMD). In
1981, under Sreedharan's leadership, the shipyard launched its first ship, the MV Rani Padmini.
[10]

On Contract[edit]

The 1,319 m (4,327 ft) longKonkan Railway bridge across theZuari river in Goa.

Konkan Railway[edit]
Main article: Konkan Railway
He was promoted as general manager, Western Railway in July 1987, and in July 1989 elevated
to the post of Member Engineering, Railway Board and ex-officio Secretary to the Government of
India.[8] On his retirement in June 1990, the Government made it clear it still needed his services
and he was appointed the CMD of Konkan Railway on contract in 1990 by the then railway
minister, George Fernandes. Under his stewardship, the company executed its mandate in seven
years. The project was unique in many respects. It was the first major project in India to be
undertaken on a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) basis; the organisation structure was different
from that of a typical Indian Railway set-up; the project had 93 tunnels along a length of 82 km
and involved tunnelling through soft soil. The total project covered 760 km and had over 150
bridges. That a public sector project could be completed without significant cost and time
overruns was considered an achievement by many.

Delhi Metro[edit]
Main article: Delhi Metro
He was made the managing director of Delhi Metro Rail corporation (DMRC) and by mid-1997 by
the Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma[?], all the scheduled sections were completed by their

target date or before, and within their respective budgets. Sreedharan was given
the sobriquet of Metro Man by the media for his grand success in executing the completion of the
Delhi Metro.[11] His stint in the Delhi Metro has been considered so successful and crucial to India
that in 2005, he was awarded the Chevalier de la Lgion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of
Honour) by the government of France, and the Padma Vibhushan by the government of India in
2008.[4] There were also demands by prominent political figures that Sreedharan be awarded
the Bharat Ratna, the most prestigious civilian award in India.[12]He was particularly known for
isolating his projects from political pressures and influences and winning political commitments
for fast execution of projects.[13][14] He had announced that he would retire by the end of 2005, but
his tenure was further extended to oversee the completion of the second phase of Delhi Metro.
After 16 years of service with the Delhi Metro, Sreedharan retired from service on 31 December
2011.

Kochi Metro[edit]
After his retirement from DMRC, Sreedharan has been appointed as Principal Advisor of
the Kochi Metro Rail Project.[15] Initially, the project faced hurdles when a controversy broke out
with the government announcing a global tender process for Kochi Metro, rather than letting
DMRC handle the consultancy and project execution as Sreedharan and DMRC had initially
asked for.[2] Vested interests in the government have been alleged in this decision.[16] However,
several political parties came out in opposition of the move, and backed Sreedharan's decision in
enforcing DMRC's role in the Kochi Metro, after which the government reversed its stance. [17] In
2013, Sreedharan estimated that the Kochi metro would be ready by 3 years. [18]

Other Metros[edit]
Sreedharan has also been appointed as Chief Advisor for the Lucknow Metro [19] He has been
advising for the Jaipur Metro as well as DMRC has undertaken its implementation. [20] He has also
been roped in as advisor for a proposed Metro rail system in Andhra Pradesh in
the Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada (VGTM) areas, under the leadership of the Chief
Minister Chandrababu Naidu.[21]

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