New York: An Indian-American, who has overseen some remarkable reconstruction work post- September 11 terrorist attacks, has been appointed to head major construction and improvement initiatives comprising major multi-billion Dollar expansion projects in New York.

Mysore L Nagaraja, who hails from Karnataka, has been appointed as the President of a newly created wing of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the New York State agency that runs public transport services in the city and its neighbourhood.

The MTA Directors' Board has unanimously voted to appoint Nagaraja to head the Capital Construction Co, a wing, which has a budget of several billion Dollars and is entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the agency's expansion projects.

Since 1996, Nagaraja has served as senior Vice-President and Chief Engineer at MTA's New York City Transit, where he has overseen several tasks such as the remarkable reconstruction of stretches of two subway (underground Railway) lines within a year following their damage in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Commending his work, the MTA said in a statement that at any given time Nagaraja —who hails from Karnataka — manages about 400 projects in various stages of construction and design. Also, during his tenure as Senior Vice-President, more than 75 per cent of all projects were completed on time and within budget.

MTA Chairman Peter S Kalikow expressed trust in Nagaraja's capabilities. "Moving these mega-projects forward is a real challenge. We are confident that Mysore Nagaraja is the ideal person to get these jobs done, on time and within budget," Kalikow said.

On his appointment to the key post, Nagaraja said, "I embrace the opportunity to lead the new MTA Capital Construction Company and build on the tradition of excellence that was initiated when the first capital program was approved back in 1981."

The Indian-American is a respected veteran of the city's transportation construction management with the creation of the new company. The MTA consolidates existing construction and improvement initiatives with critical system expansion projects. It will be the single clearing-house for all major capital- funded projects.

This is the first time a one-stop effort has been made since the capital-funding program was launched more than two decades ago. With this, the MTA's competitive position is expected to grow and benefit the commuters.

Agencies