You’ve probably seen her around one of those patches of busy Mumbai roads when you were stuck in traffic, owing to the ongoing Metro tunnel work.
If you saw a tough lady wearing a white and hard workman’s hat, thick workmen’s boots and the typical green fluorescent jacket that we often see on those who are working at the construction sites, you probably got a glimpse of Nimisha Singh.
What’s special about it?
What is special about Nimisha Singh is that this 26 year old is the only female civil engineer who has an expertise in the field of tunnel technology. She is also the only female who has been recruited to work on the Metro III underground corridor.
Nimisha was always interested in getting her hands dirty on the field, and her aim was to become a civil engineer. This, when almost all the other girls in her batch were more keen to opt for desk jobs.
Image Credit: Linkedin
In the year 2013, she first started working on the Metro project with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation underground corridor. Even though she had no work experience in the field, she decided to give it a shot. The work would not be easy, and she knew she would have to go for long and irregular work slots and also difficult working conditions. But the young lady, who admits she is quite rough and tough, was ready for it.
Even though she expected some difficulties, what she wasn’t prepared was for the problems she would face almost immediately after joining. The metro projects have always been very male dominated, and it was a sudden change for her colleagues as well as clients to see a female in the lead. For weeks after she began, the expats who were working on the project were not convinced about her abilities, and it took a lot of convincing from her Indian counterparts to finally give her access and the required technology to get to work.
It is obviously a very rare sight to see a woman handling the tough machines and work conditions that are so typical of the metro underground projects. If you happen to cross the section between Mumbai Central and Acharya Atre Marg, you may get a glimpse of this iron lady in the tough hat.
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