Dr Sreedharan

Link:
http://kaipullai.com/2012/02/24/dr-elattuvalapil-sreedharan-the-bharat-ratna-no-one-talks-about/



what Dr Sreedharan has done for the country

1. He restored India’s longest sea bridge which was completely destroyed, in 46 days.

2. He designed India’s first Metro.

3. Supervised the building of India’s first indigenous Merchant vessel.

4. Executed India’s most difficult project since Independence.

5. Gave Delhi wallahs, something called the Metro.

6. Predicted India’s biggest corporate fraud, three months before it happened.

Dr Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, affectionately called the ‘MetroMan of India’, bid adieu to his 56 year long career of creating 21st century monuments. His exit was a reflection of how he lived; simple, elegant and completely inconspicuous.
Just pause for a moment and think.
56 successive years, in a single job, without a break
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cyclone, hit the coastal town of Rameshwaram on 22nd of December, 1964. And it was a deadly one.
Not so long ago, south of Rameshwaram, there used be a bustling town called Dhanushkodi. It had its own post office, customs office and even a Railway Station. My bet is most of you wouldn’t have heard about it. Why?
Because on that fateful night, the Indian Ocean swallowed the entire town. More than 2000 Indians were killed. The ocean even ensured that, a passenger train which was beginning its last journey of the day at 11.15 P.M, made its last journey ever.
The cyclone destroyed the Pamban Bridge, the only bridge connecting Rameshwaram to mainland India. And this meant Rameshwaram was completely isolated. Considering the above cyclone something had to be done, and fast.

IN SIX MONTHS

Dr Sreedharan finished the job in ..FORTY SIX 1964 DAYS.

He took one month and 15 days to restore, THAT bridge, back to full operation. The bridge which was India’s longest sea bridge for 96 years, till the Bandra Worli Sea Link was inaugurated in the year 2008.

Forty six days to restore this 2.3 Km bridge in a state where

for all this trouble, Dr Sreedharan got a Railway award consisting of Rs 100 and an awful looking plaque

1. For the first time ever, three largest ports on the Indian coast, Mumbai, Karwar and Mangalore have a direct connection.

2. Travel time from the southern states to the north, have been reduced by upto 40 percent. The crummy old Nethravathi Express, used to take 38 hours to travel from Trivandrum to Mumbai.

Now, thanks to Dr E Sreedharan and the

KONKAN RAILWAY

the same train takes 22 Hours. A 16 hour reduction in travel time. And a 16-18 hour reduction in travel times of all trains going from Kerala,Karnataka, Goa to the North.