In a significant boost for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state of Kerala, “Metro Man” E. Sreedharan, is set to join the party ahead of the Assembly Elections in the state.
'Metro Man' E Sreedharan to join BJP. He will formally join the party during its Vijay Yatra that will be led by Kerala BJP chief K Surendran from 21st February.
— ANI (@ANI) February 18, 2021
(File photo) pic.twitter.com/aa39lj1LQS
Elattuvapil Sreedharan is a retired officer of the Indian Engineering Service and earned the title the “Metro Man” for his groundbreaking work in building the public transport in India, particularly the Delhi Metro. In 2003, he was named Asia’s Heroes by the TIME magazine.
However, Sreedharan as an engineer was responsible for developing the Konkan Railways which has been called one of the most difficult railway projects in the world.
As per reports, Sreedharan will formally join BJP during the party’s Vijay Yatra led by Kerala BJP chief K Surendran from 21 February.
Sreedharan was born in Karukaputhur what used to be the Madras Presidency and later became the state of Kerala.
His achievement and success have led him to be the advisor to several Metro projects in India, and a member of the United Nations’ High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport.
He holds a degree in civil engineering from the Government Engineering College, known now as JNTUK, in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. Before that, he studied at the Victoria College in Palghat.
Sreedharan started as a lecturer of civil engineering at the Government Polytechnic, Kozhikode, then joined the Bombay Port Trust as an apprentice. Next, he cleared the Indian Engineering Service Exam in 1953 and joined the Southern Railway in December 1954.
He quickly moved up the ladder because of his performance and reportedly, in 1964, against a six-month target set by the railways to repair a bridge that had washed away by a cyclone, he managed to repair it and finish the restoration work in 46 days.
He also had worked on Kolkata Metro, and was instrumental in Cochin Shipyard Limited’s turnaround.
However, he became famous when he was given the task of developing the Delhi Metro and true to his testament he finished projects before deadlines, and within 16 years. Known for his honesty and professionalism, he made sure there was no corruption and the labours who worked on the project received their salary on time.
Any contractor caught cheating was instantly replaced and took an uncompromising stand on safety and quality of the Delhi Metro.
At present, Delhi Metro is only one of the few Metro projects in the world that are profitable and has made totally changed how people in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) commuters every day.
Sreedharan was later offered advisory roles in Kochi Metro, Jaipur Metro, Lucknow Metro, Coimbatore Metro and proposed projects in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.
He is the recipient of several national and international honours for his work, including Padma Shri in 2001, Padma Vibhushan in 2008, and the French government’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2005.
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