Engineer’s Day is observed in India on September 15th every year in honour of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. Bharat Ratna recipient Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, KCIE was a notable Indian Engineer, Scholar, Statesman and the Diwan of Mysore during 1912-1919. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour in 1955. He was knighted the Commander of the Indian Empire by King George V for his myriad contributions for the Public Good.
Image Credit: The Hindu
He is held in high regard as the first prominent engineer in India. Internationally recognized for his genius in harnessing water resources, he was responsible for successful design and construction of several river dams, bridges and implementing irrigation and drinking water schemes all over India.
He was the chief designer of the flood protection system designed and built for the city of Hyderabad as well as the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysore which created the largest reservoir in Asia at the time when it was constructed.
Visvesvaraya also designed and patented a system of automatic weir water floodgates that were first installed in 1903 at the Khadakwasla Reservoir near Pune. These gates were employed to raise the flood supply level of storage in the reservoir to the highest level. Based on the success of these gates the same system was replicated at the Tigra Dam project in Gwalior and the Krishna Raja Sagara project in Karnataka.
Among his most successful projects were the Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works, setting up of the Mysore Sandalwood Oil factory and founding of the Bank of Mysore. He died on April 14, 1962.
Picture Courtesy: TNW
