Dr. Elattuvalapil Sreedharan- Managing Director, Delhi Metro

Dr. E. Sreedharan
डा. ई. श्रीधरन
ഡോക്ടര്‍ ഇ. ശ്രീധരന്‍

He was born on 12 June 1932 in Palakkad district, Kerala. He is an Indian technocrat, known for completing both the Konkan Railway and Delhi Metro projects within budget and ahead of schedule.

Starting of Life:

E. Sreedharan is from Karukaputhoor in Palaghat district of Kerala of India. His surname Ellatuvalapil belongs to the famous Tharavad in this part of Kerala. He had been a classmate of T. N. Seshan, the former Chief Election Commissioner of India in school. He later studied at the Victoria College in Palghat and then completed his Engineering from the Government Engineering College, Kakinada. After serving as a lecturer in Civil engineering at the Kerala Polytechnic in Kozhikode for a short period and a year at the Bombay Port Trust as an apprentice, he joined the Indian Engineering Service in Railways. This was through a nation-wide selection procedure and his first assignment was in the Southern Railway as an Assistant Engineer in December 1954.

As Government Official:

In 1963, when a tidal wave washed away Pamban bridge that connected Rameshwaram to Main Land. A target of six months was set to repair the bridge, Sreedharan was the 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 46 days. The Railway minister's Award was given to him for it. In 1970, as the Deputy Chief Engineer, he was in- charge of planning, execution and design of Calcutta Metro, the first ever metro in India. Cochin Shipyard launched Rani Padmini, its first ship, when he was its Chairman- cum- Managing. He retired from Railways in 1990.

Remarkable Achievements:

Even after the retirement, the Government needed his services and he was appointed as CMD of Konkan Railway in 1990. Under him, 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 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. He was made the managing director of Delhi Metro and by mid-2005, all the scheduled sections were completed by their target date or before and within their respective budgets. He was given the sobriquet of Metro Man by the media. In 2005, he was awarded the "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.

Awards:

1. Railway Minister Award in 1963, 2. Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2001, 3. Man of the Year by The Times of India in 2002, 4. Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award for professional excellence in engineering in 2002, 5. CII Juror's Award for leadership in infrastructure development in 2002-03, 6. One of Asia's Heroes by TIME in 2003, 7. AIMA (All India Management Association) award for Public Service Excellence in 2003, 8. Degree of Doctor of Science by IIT Delhi, 9. Bharat Shiromani award from the Shiromani Institute, Chandigarh in 2005, 10. Knight of the Legion of Honour by the Government of France in 2005, 11. CNN-IBN Indian Of the Year 2007: Public Service in 2008, 12. Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2008.