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Metro Man expected to clear air over Kochi job today
Metro Man E Sreedharan said that the uncertainty over whether he would take up the responsibility of implementing the proposed Kochi Metro Rail project, with which he has an “emotional attachment”, could end after a meeting with the Kerala Government in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Sreedharan, the former managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) categorically stated in Kochi on Wednesday that he was prepared to take up the job, as desired by the Kerala Government, only if the responsibility of the entire project was given to the DMRC.
So far, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), the special purpose vehicle (SPV) constituted for the implementation of the Rs 5,000 crore project, and the Government have shown interest in inviting Sreedharan only and not the DMRC. “There is no meaning in becoming just an advisor to the KMRL on the project,” he told newsmen.
“I will take part in this project only if the DMRC is there. It is a very complex project that needs a lot of technical expertise and excellence. That is why I am saying that I cannot do it all alone,” Sreedharan said.
“Which other agency in the country has the expertise to implement this project?” Sreedharan asked. The KMRL wanted to implement the project but that desire must have come out of the ignorance of the complexities involved, he opined, adding that the Kerala Government had now understood the reality.
In Thiruvananthapuram, CM Oommen Chandy said that Sreedharan was expected to take part in the meeting of the Kerala Planning Board, in which he was a member, on Thursday and a final decision was expected at it. “In this matter, Sreedharan’s word would be final,” Chandy said after a meeting of the State Cabinet.
The Metro Man said that he would be unable to carry out the Kochi job if DMRC was not there in the project. He said he was personally interested in taking up the job because of an emotional attachment due to the very fact that this was in his home State. For the DMRC, this job was not a business proposition but part of its revolutionary mission to spread metros through Indian cities.
The former LDF Government headed by VS Achuthanandan had wanted the DMRC to involve in Kochi Metro, he said. But the present Congress-led UDF Government and the KMRL have so far said that they want the services of Sreedharan alone and that the DMRC can enter it only through the tender process.
Sreedharan said that he had discussed the whole matter in detail with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy the other day. After the meeting, Chandy had expressed the confidence that Sreedharan would join the Kochi Metro project and that the all other issues involved would be sorted out in time.
The KMRL and the Kerala Government have so far been saying that Sreedharan was welcome to join the Kochi project but DMRC would not be given any special consideration for implementing the project and that it could come to the project only if it qualified in the global tendering process but the ruling Congress itself was divided on this plan.
“The KMRL can implement the project on its own. But it can take eight years or 10 years,” Sreedharan said. According to the DMRC, the Kochi Metro would need four years for implementation. “The Chief Minister said he wanted the project to be completed in three years and I said the DMRC could do it,” Sreedharan said.
Metro Man E Sreedharan said that the uncertainty over whether he would take up the responsibility of implementing the proposed Kochi Metro Rail project, with which he has an “emotional attachment”, could end after a meeting with the Kerala Government in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Sreedharan, the former managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) categorically stated in Kochi on Wednesday that he was prepared to take up the job, as desired by the Kerala Government, only if the responsibility of the entire project was given to the DMRC.
So far, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL), the special purpose vehicle (SPV) constituted for the implementation of the Rs 5,000 crore project, and the Government have shown interest in inviting Sreedharan only and not the DMRC. “There is no meaning in becoming just an advisor to the KMRL on the project,” he told newsmen.
“I will take part in this project only if the DMRC is there. It is a very complex project that needs a lot of technical expertise and excellence. That is why I am saying that I cannot do it all alone,” Sreedharan said.
“Which other agency in the country has the expertise to implement this project?” Sreedharan asked. The KMRL wanted to implement the project but that desire must have come out of the ignorance of the complexities involved, he opined, adding that the Kerala Government had now understood the reality.
In Thiruvananthapuram, CM Oommen Chandy said that Sreedharan was expected to take part in the meeting of the Kerala Planning Board, in which he was a member, on Thursday and a final decision was expected at it. “In this matter, Sreedharan’s word would be final,” Chandy said after a meeting of the State Cabinet.
The Metro Man said that he would be unable to carry out the Kochi job if DMRC was not there in the project. He said he was personally interested in taking up the job because of an emotional attachment due to the very fact that this was in his home State. For the DMRC, this job was not a business proposition but part of its revolutionary mission to spread metros through Indian cities.
The former LDF Government headed by VS Achuthanandan had wanted the DMRC to involve in Kochi Metro, he said. But the present Congress-led UDF Government and the KMRL have so far said that they want the services of Sreedharan alone and that the DMRC can enter it only through the tender process.
Sreedharan said that he had discussed the whole matter in detail with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy the other day. After the meeting, Chandy had expressed the confidence that Sreedharan would join the Kochi Metro project and that the all other issues involved would be sorted out in time.
The KMRL and the Kerala Government have so far been saying that Sreedharan was welcome to join the Kochi project but DMRC would not be given any special consideration for implementing the project and that it could come to the project only if it qualified in the global tendering process but the ruling Congress itself was divided on this plan.
“The KMRL can implement the project on its own. But it can take eight years or 10 years,” Sreedharan said. According to the DMRC, the Kochi Metro would need four years for implementation. “The Chief Minister said he wanted the project to be completed in three years and I said the DMRC could do it,” Sreedharan said.
