Technocrat, Metro Man, Padma Shri awardee: E Sreedharan’s many faces

Under Sreedharan’s leadership, all scheduled sections of DMRC were completed by mid-1997, which was before the target date. After 16 years of service in DMRC, Sreedharan retired in 2011.

E Sreedharan, popularly known as the ‘Metro Man’, could be the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate in the Kerala assembly elections. Sreedharan had joined the BJP two weeks ago, saying that he was ready to contest the assembly elections in the state scheduled to be held on April 6. “I am ready to contest in any seat and victory is sure for me. I strongly believe that the BJP will come to power,” Sreedharan said.

Metro Man' E Sreedharan speaks after formally joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (PTI)

On Thursday, Union minister and senior BJP leader from Kerala V Muraleedharan appeared to announce Sreedharan as the party’s presumptive chief minister but later said he had tweeted on the basis of some media reports about the Kerala BJP chief’s statement, and not a party decision. The BJP leader’s decision to delete his tweet is seen to be linked to the BJP’s decision not to announce its chief ministerial candidate in any state in the other states going to polls in this round.

A retired officer of the Indian Engineering Services (IES), Elattuvapil Sreedharan has played the role of an advisor to several Metro projects in India. He is also a member of the United Nations’ High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport. Hailed for his groundbreaking work in transforming public transport in India, especially Delhi Metro, Sreedharan is popularly known as the Metro Man.

Early life and education

Sreedharan was born in 1932 in Karukaputhur under Madras Presidency, which is now in Kerala. He pursued his higher education at the Victoria College in Palghat and then got a degree in civil engineering from the Government Engineering College, known now as JNTUK, in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.

Career in academics

After his education, Sreedharan started out as a lecturer of civil engineering at the Government Polytechnic in Kozhikode. He then joined the Bombay Port Trust as an apprentice. In 1953, Sreedharan cleared the Indian Engineering Service Exam and joined the southern railway in 1954 thus embarking on a career in the railways.

Career in railways

Between 1970 and 1975, Sreedharan was in charge of planning, designing and implementing the Kolkata Metro project. Between 1979 and 1981, he was in charge of the Cochin Shipyard Limited. He was promoted as general manager of the Western Railway in July 1987 and in 1989 he was elevated to the position of Member Engineering, Railway Board and ex-officio secretary to the government. Even after his retirement in June 1990, the government tasked him to spearhead the Konkan Railway project in 1990.

Delhi Metro

After this, Sreedharan was made the managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Under Sreedharan’s leadership, all scheduled sections of DMRC were completed by mid-1997, which was before the target date. After 16 years of service in DMRC, Sreedharan retired in 2011 after which he took advisory roles in Kochi Metro, Jaipur Metro, Lucknow Metro, Coimbatore Metro and proposed projects in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.

Awards and recognitions

Sreedharan has received numerous national and international honours. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001 and felicitated with the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. He was also awarded the French government’s highest civilian honour Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2005 and was also named as one of Asia’s Heroes in 2003 by TIME magazine.