E Sreedharan back on track: UP CM Yogi Adityanath rejects his resignation, asks him to plan metros of 3 more cities

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday put Metro man E Sreedharan yet again on track. After delivering his home project Kochi Metro last month, 85-year-old Sreedharan planned to offer his resignation from the role of advisor to the Lucknow and Kanpur Metro projects and met Yogi, but instead of reducing his responsibility, the chief minister increases his work load by planning metros for three more cities including Varanasi, Agra and Meerut as well as his home turf Gorakhpur. 

"The UP CM did not allow me to tender my resignation. He added the responsibility of planning metros for three more cities. He is very keen on getting the metro to his own constituency, Gorakhpur," India Today quoted Sreedharan as saying. 

Addressing media from the conference room of the DMRC office in Kochi, Sreedharan stated that 10.5-km line for Lucknow is ready and is now waiting only for inspection by the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety. 

He also gave an update on the Metro plan in Uttar Pradesh saying, the depot is ready in Kanpur and the project report of the Varanasi Metro is ready but has to be revised as CM Yogi wasn’t happy with the report. Sreedharan also said that Yogi Adityanath doesn’t want any kind of construction to come up near the temple.

On being asked about his presidential nomination, Sreedharan called it a media speculation. "I was never approached for it as one can’t be the president of a country at 85,"Metro man dismissed the reports.