The Hindu : New Delhi News : The `star of the day' lauded

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

The `star of the day' lauded

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, DEC. 19. Outright humble and completely dedicated to his job, the man behind the success of the Konkan project and now the Delhi Metro project, E. Sreedharan, was the star of the day's proceedings as praises were showered on him and his team of officials and workers at the inauguration of the Delhi University-Kashmere Gate section of the Delhi Metro today.

The biggest praise came from Union Urban Development Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who compared the clean image of the Corporation led by him to that of the Prime Minister. "Public utilities are known to go slow and be corrupt, but in the case of Delhi Metro I have not heard of corruption of even Re 1.''

And while the efficiency of other public sector units remains questionable, he said, Delhi Metro has stayed ahead of schedule despite the congestion on the city roads. With the Metro, he declared, Delhi will become a major attraction for both domestic and foreign tourists.

Overall, it has been a "win-win situation'', Mr Azad said, noting that the benefits of the project far outweigh the Rs. 10,000 crore cost. The number of accidents will drop far below the annual average of around 10,000 and the saving in petrol and diesel will itself be around Rs 700 crores per annum. Further, the Metro has already brought the pollution levels down by around 25 per cent by removing a large number of vehicles from the roads.

The Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, went to the extent of saying that "in the Government we have learnt a lot from DMRC -- especially its style of work and its decision-taking process". Terming Delhi Metro as "country's pride'' for its timely, efficient and honest implementation, she said it is not only a facility but a service that has also impacted the style of thinking and conduct of the people. "The operation on the 23-km Shahdara-Rithala corridor also shows that people are preserving it,'' he said.

In a city where 400 cars are registered daily, she said, Delhi Metro has shown a new path and will help reduce pollution and congestion on the roads.

The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, B.L. Joshi, declared that "Mr Sreedharan has made early completion of projects a habit''. He said while in developed nations, Metro systems were installed the moment the population crossed 2 million, in Delhi there has been a delay to that respect but still it is a case of better late than never.

He also lauded the fact that Metro was engaged in compensatory afforestation and planting 10 saplings for every tree cut.

Mr Sreedharan, on his part, described the inauguration of the underground section as a historic occasion and said its completion seven months before time and in just 44 months was "a record even advanced countries would be jealous of''. Moreover, he said, the system was very modern and completely air-conditioned and possessed a ventilation system which could control the flow of air. The safety aspects were also unique and in an emergency evacuation can be completed from the platforms in just four minutes and from the entire system in just six minutes.

With the completion of Line 3 in December 2005, he said Phase I of the project will come to an end. But what was most pleasing about the project was that the "most visible technology driven infrastructure project was also changing the social behaviour for the better''.

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