Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
NEW DELHI: The resignation of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s director (projects and planning), Kumar Keshav, first reported in TOI on Thursday, has been accepted by the board of directors. The board held a meeting on Thursday morning.
Keshav is going to stay on till May-end. He would be completing 10 years in DMRC on April 30. Sources said he has opted to work in the private sector and has been toying with the idea for some time. Though he was not available for comment, it is learnt that he may be seeking employment abroad.
Attrition in Delhi Metro has been a worry and the former MD, E Sreedharan, often talked about this. Senior and middle level employees work with the best technology in the world, adding value to their CVs, and move on. DMRC has lost engineers at all levels to DLF Metro, Mumbai Metro and Dubai Metro besides others. In fact, its former director (projects), CBK Rao, had quit to join DLF Metro.
Keshav’s exit from DMRC is a blow to the organisation as he has been in charge of two major Metro lines that will come up in Phase III – the Mukundpur-Yamuna Vihar and Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden lines. He had been looking after the two important links along with Mangu Singh, who was then promoted as MD of DMRC after Sreedharan left. The projects are at a crucial stage as tenders for both lines are already out and the work is expected to be awarded in the next few months. Following Singh’s promotion, Keshav was most intimately involved in the two Metro links and his resignation may seriously hamper the projects in Phase III.
Phase III will be most challenging for DMRC as there will be very long Metro lines going through congested parts of the city, with a huge number of underground stations. The 103.5-km Phase III is likely to be completed by 2016. Delhi Metro, in this phase, aims to link Mukundpur with Yamuna Vihar, Janakpuri West with Kalindi Kunj, Central Secretariat with Kashmere Gate and Jahangirpuri with Badli. The Mukundpur corridor will be the longest at 56 km with 35 stations. The Janakpuri West-Munirka-Kalindi Kunj corridor will be 34-km long and have 22 stations. More info
