E. Sreedharan

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E. Sreedharan bigraphy, stories - Indian civil engineer

E. Sreedharan : biography

12 June 1932 –

A Phase I broad gauge train, supplied by [[Hyundai Rotem-BEML.]]

Elattuvalapil Sreedharan (born 12 June 1932) is an Indian civil engineer. He served as the managing director of Delhi Metro between 1995-2012. He is otherwise also popularly known as the "Metro Man".

Government career

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. The Railway minister’s Award was given to him in recognition of this achievement..

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. He retired from Indian Railways as Member Engineering in 1990.

Cochin Shipyard Limited

Cochin Shipyard launched MV Rani Padmini, the first ship it built, when he was its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), in 1981.

Awards and accolades

  • Railway Minister’s Award (1963)
  • Padma Shri by the Government of India (2001)
  • Man of the Year by The Times of India (2002)
  • Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award for professional excellence in engineering (2002)
  • CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) Juror’s Award for leadership in infrastructure development (2002–03)
  • One of Asia’s Heroes by TIME (2003)
  • AIMA (All India Management Association) award for Public Service Excellence (2003)
  • Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris causa) from IIT Delhi.
  • Bharat Shiromani award from the Shiromani Institute, Chandigarh (2005)
  • Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the government of France (2005)
  • CNN-IBN Indian Of the Year 2007: Public Service (2008)
  • Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India (2008) 51525
  • D.Lit. By Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, Rajasthan, in 2009
  • Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris causa) from IIT Roorkee, 2009.
  • SR Jindal Prize (honorary) awarded by Sitaram Jindal Foundation, 2012.

On Contract

Konkan Railway bridge across the Zuari river in Goa.]]

Konkan Railway

Though he retired, the Government 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 tunneling 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

He was made the managing director of Delhi Metro 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. In 2005, he was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the government of France. He had announced that he would retire by the end of 2005, but his tenure has been extended by another three years to oversee the completion of the second phase of Delhi Metro.

In July 2009, Sreedharan resigned as the managing director DMRC, taking moral responsibility for the collapse of an under-construction bridge (at Zamrudpur near Amar Colony) that killed five people. However, due to popular demand, Delhi’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit rejected Sreedharan’s resignation, and he withdrew it a day later. Sreedharan stated after his withdrawal that he will ultimately be quitting from his position but only after the completion of the Phase II of the Delhi Metro Project.http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/i_will_resign_after_completion_of_phase_ii_sreedharan.php

After 16 years of service with the Delhi Metro, Sreedharan retired from service on 31 December 2011. His successor is Mangu Singh, who is an Indian Railways Service of Engineers (IRSE) officer of the 1981 batch. After his retirement from DMRC, Sreedharan has been appointed as Principal Advisor of the Kochi Metro Rail Project. Sreedharan also has an advisory board slot at Foundation for the Restoration of National Values, with members like business tycoon Ratan Tata and a former chief justice of India. The foundation aims to "bring in good values in all areas of national life, to cleanse corruption in high places," says Sreedharan.

Early life

E. Sreedharan was born on 12 June 1932 in the Palakkad district of Kerala. 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. He, along with his wife Radha, have four children.

Career as a Lecturer

For a short tenure, he worked as a lecturer in Civil engineering at the Government Polytechnic, Kozhikode and a year at the Bombay Port Trust as an apprentice.

Later he joined the Indian Railways Service of Engineers(IRSE), after clearing IES-53 conducted by UPSC. His first assignment was in the Southern Railway as a Probationary Assistant Engineer in December 1954.