She steps out to conquer. This aptly represents the womanpower behind the metro rail project, Mayurika Chakraborty. She is the only woman engineer working in the field for the Metrolink Express for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (MEGA). Chakraborty, 24, is an alumna of Cept and has a BTech in Civil Engineering. This Maninagar resident joined the MEGA last June, during on-campus placements at the city-based institute. MEGA officials say there are four other women engineers working on the metro rail project, but Chakraborty is the only woman working in the field.

"From my first year at Cept in 2010, I was interested in working on the metro. It thought it would be a dream to work on the project because of my love for the city. I was born and brought up here and the metro is an important project for Ahmedabad," said Chakraborty, who spends eight hours a day monitoring progress on the metro rail's first 6-km route, from Vastral to Apparel Park in Khokhra.

The project, which was announced one decade ago by then chief minister Narendra Modi, has been criticised for its snails pace, but Chakraborty believes the first phase will be complete next June.

"The project was on and off, but I was determined to work on a metro project alone, if not in Ahmedabad then in some other city. As MEGA was for Ahmedabad, I decided to join it immediately," she said.

About fond memories while working on the project, she said, "The best moment was when we launched our first span and I was right there. The worst moment when things were destroyed during the Patidar agitation."

About her life and goals, she says, "I belong to the Bengali community where usually marriage happens after 25 or 28. By then the first phase will be finished. My career is my priority, marriage can wait for five years."