Kochi Metro all set to break record: `Metro Man’ E Sreedharan makes waves in his home state

Kochi Metro, Kerala’s dream project, is fast turning into a reality. The work on the first 18 km-long reach of the Kochi Metro from Aluva to Ernakulam Maharajas College Ground is progressing at a feverish pitch to beat the June 2016 deadline fixed for its commissioning. If the project is commissioned on schedule, it will be the fastest Metro to be commissioned in India where the other Metros that were completed or are due to commissioned shortly took anywhere between four to six years to complete the first reach.

As per the present schedule, work related to laying rails over the viaduct will begin this month, while work on metro stations will be over by December. Coaches will begin arriving from December and trial runs will begin from January-February 2016.

Ever since the work on Kochi Metro started, Keralites are exposed to a new work culture that was seldom witnessed in the history of public works in the state. The concern that the executioners of the project show towards minimising inconvenience to the public is laudable. Metro is executed with the least possible dislocation of traffic, even on the MG Road, the busiest arterial road in the state. Traffic wardens posted at the work sites do an efficient job. Instead of aggravating traffic congestion, Metro men have made the traffic more disciplined and smooth.

Except within the enclosed area, there are no signs of any work going on. You won’t find a single piece of debris anywhere on the work site, except within the enclosure. The wheels of trucks are mechanically washed before they move out of the work site so that they keep the roads spotlessly clean.

The work moves at a fast pace day and night, irrespective of heavy monsoon downpour. The workers are fully absorbed in their assigned duties. You won’t find a single soul idling.

Challenges were aplenty right from Day 1. As many as 103 mandays were lost due to strikes and hartals ever since the work on the Metro started in June 2013, six months of monsoon each year played havoc with piling works, delayed land acquisition, as also tracing and relocating pipelines, held up works. Yet, 75 % of civil works on the 18-km route were completed within two years. This is no small achievement in a state notorious for its trade unioin militancy and frequent hartals.

What’s the secret behind this exemplary work culture? Nothing but the quality of leadership provided by `Metro man’ E Sreedharan, a cult figure who has created engineering marvels like the reconstructed Pamban Bridge, Kolkatta Metro, Konkan Railway and Delhi Metro.

After his retirement from DMRC as its Managing Director in 2012, Sreedharan was keen to settle down in his home state of Kerala, devoting the rest of his life to spiritual persuits. But before he could move in to his newly built retirement home overlooking the Ponnani beach came the call from Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy requesting him to take over the Kochi Metro. Chandy’s call preceded a public clamour to entrust the work to Sreedharan, who has already become a household name in Kerala.

Never before has Kerala witnessed a public outcry to entrust a mega project to a particular official known for his ruthless efficiency and incorruptibility. That credit too goes to Sreedharan. He has carved out a place in people’s minds like the legendary engineers Sir Robert Bristow (builder of Cochin Port) and Sir M Vishveshwariah(builder of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mysore).

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