Sreedharan resigns from the post of Principal Advisor to LMRC

Lucknow (Urban Transport News): Metroman Dr. E. Sreedharan has submitted his resignation letter to the board of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) on Monday. He was appointed as Principal Advisor to Lucknow Metro Rail project in February 2014 for shaping the project in the state capital. Confirming his resignation, an official of LMRC said that he has resigned from the post of Principal Advisor citing health issues. However, sources said that he was not happy with the slow progress of the Lucknow Metro project. Some other senior officials including Mahendra Kumar, Director (Rolling Stock) of LMRC are also planning to left the corporation.

Last year, Daljit Singh, Director (Civil Works) left the Lucknow Metro and joined his parent organisation Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation has forwarded the letter to the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh government for its approval. Dr. E. Sreedharan, popularly known as the Metroman, has years of experience in handling various Metro projects in the country. He was the first managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and discharging his role as Principal Advisor to various ongoing and proposed metro rail project in the country at the age of 87.

Sreedharan had played a key role in framing the new metro rail policy and advising the maximum use of land for planning metro stations. Commenting on his resignation, Kumar Keshav, managing director of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation said,

Sreedharan personally monitored the construction work of the North-South Corridor. His valuable guidance was crucial in the construction of the underground section. I requested him not to resign but he said his health was not supporting him at this point of time.

Sreedharan was always in favour of reducing cost from the various heads especially from operation and maintenance of metro services. He also supervised the construction work of elevated tracks on the East-West Corridor of Lucknow Metro Rail project to be built on a single pillar using lightweight technology, which brought down the total budget of the project from Rs. 5,396 to Rs. 4,538 crore. Recently he is in the news headlines for opposing the free metro ride scheme for women passengers proposed to be introduced by Delhi Government in the capital.