This post is small tribute to the visionary called E Sreedharan who retires on 31st December 2011 as the Head of Delhi Metro. He would hand over the reins to Mr. Mangu Singh, a great responsibility to shoulder I must say.
E Sreedharan changed the way people travel in Delhi, a visionary who laid foundation of one of the finest piece of infrastructure at the most appropriate time. It was hard to imagine Commonwealth Games without Delhi Metro ! Delhi had a virtually non existent public transport system which was evident from the dubious record of highest number of four wheeled vehicles across all Metros in India. The only public transport were the Blue line Buses and DTC Buses which were not preferred by the elite or babus of Delhi.
The greatness of this man is not in his Engineering acumen which is by far the best but also the administrative skills demonstrated by him to handle bureaucracy across state and central governments in Delhi. Issues like land acquisition which are the prime constraint for any form of development were solved by him at mind boggling speed.
We must also salute the Indian Railways who gave him an opportunity to hone his skills as a Civil Engineer in his younger days. We must not forget that the bulk of team members from the Delhi Metro have come from Indian Railways. We have the necessary skill set, it just takes a man like E Sreedharan to bring out the best in them and an opportunity to show case them.
I take pride in the fact that I am amongst the select few who has seen this man face to face and shake hands with him. This opportunity was bestowed upon me while I was part of the team which executed the Civil works for Mandi House Metro station. He would surely not remember a lesser mortal like me but his presence was highly inspirational and motivated the entire work force.
To top this achievement we have his impeccably and unblemished image. Not a single allegation of corruption or improper way of managing funds worth crores of rupees. We have many things to learn from great men, he showed that we can change things in India as well. Nothing is impossible, we only need tremendous will power and ability to think beyond horizons.
India produced one of the best Civil Engineers in the world Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya and I have no hesitation to add that E Sreedharan is second only to him. One thing I must say, he failed to develop a successor who could shoulder his legacy and carry forward the good work done by him.
E Sreedharan changed the way people travel in Delhi, a visionary who laid foundation of one of the finest piece of infrastructure at the most appropriate time. It was hard to imagine Commonwealth Games without Delhi Metro ! Delhi had a virtually non existent public transport system which was evident from the dubious record of highest number of four wheeled vehicles across all Metros in India. The only public transport were the Blue line Buses and DTC Buses which were not preferred by the elite or babus of Delhi.
The greatness of this man is not in his Engineering acumen which is by far the best but also the administrative skills demonstrated by him to handle bureaucracy across state and central governments in Delhi. Issues like land acquisition which are the prime constraint for any form of development were solved by him at mind boggling speed.
We must also salute the Indian Railways who gave him an opportunity to hone his skills as a Civil Engineer in his younger days. We must not forget that the bulk of team members from the Delhi Metro have come from Indian Railways. We have the necessary skill set, it just takes a man like E Sreedharan to bring out the best in them and an opportunity to show case them.
I take pride in the fact that I am amongst the select few who has seen this man face to face and shake hands with him. This opportunity was bestowed upon me while I was part of the team which executed the Civil works for Mandi House Metro station. He would surely not remember a lesser mortal like me but his presence was highly inspirational and motivated the entire work force.
To top this achievement we have his impeccably and unblemished image. Not a single allegation of corruption or improper way of managing funds worth crores of rupees. We have many things to learn from great men, he showed that we can change things in India as well. Nothing is impossible, we only need tremendous will power and ability to think beyond horizons.
India produced one of the best Civil Engineers in the world Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya and I have no hesitation to add that E Sreedharan is second only to him. One thing I must say, he failed to develop a successor who could shoulder his legacy and carry forward the good work done by him.
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