Every year our country celebrates Engineer’s Day on September 15, the birth anniversary of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (Bharat Ratna), the engineering pioneer of India. Popularly known as ‘Sir MV’ (15 September 1861 – 12 April 1962) and the ‘builder of India’. A civil engineer and statesman, He was born on this day in 1861 in Muddenahalli village (Now Karnataka).
Unfortunately, He lost his father at the age of just 12. In 1881, he received Graduation degree from Central College, Bangalore (then affiliated to University of Madras). He then enrolled at College of Engineering, Pune and received LCE (Licentiate in Civil Engineering), which is equivalent to DCE (Diploma in Civil Engineering), from University of Bombay to which the college was affiliated then. He took a job with the PWD of Bombay and later was invited to join the Indian Irrigation Commission.
During his service with Government of Mysore state, he was responsible for founding of (under the patronage of the Mysore government) Mysore Soap Factory, Parasitoid Laboratory, Mysore Iron & Steel Works (now known as Viswesvarayya Iron and Steel Limited) in Bhadravathi, Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Bangalore, Bangalore Agricultural University, State Bank of Mysore, Century Club, Mysore Chamber of Commerce (Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry), apex Chamber of Commerce in Karnataka, University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (Bangalore) and numerous other industrial ventures, As per available data.
Significantly, Sir MV was awarded Nation’s highest honour, for his exceptional contribution to the ‘building of India’ in 1955. Beside this, he was also awarded the British knighthood by King George V, which prefixed ‘sir’ to his name.. Greatly, He had designed and patented a system of automatic weir water floodgates that were first installed in 1903 at Khadakvasla Reservoir near Pune. These ‘gates’ were employed to raise flood supply level of storage in reservoir to the highest level likely to be attained without causing any damage to the dam. Based on the success of these gates, the same system was installed at the Tigra Dam in Gwalior and Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) Dam in Mysore, Karnataka.
Engineers are synonymous with diligence and determination. Human progress would be incomplete without their innovative zeal. Greetings on #EngineersDay and best wishes to all hardworking engineers. Tributes to the exemplary engineer Sir M. Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 15, 2019
Meanwhile, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sep 15, greeted engineers on “Engineers Day”, describing them as those synonymous with diligence and determination. Engineers Day is observed to mark the birth anniversary of acclaimed civil engineer Sir MV. “Engineers are synonymous with diligence and determination. Human progress would be incomplete without their innovative zeal,” the prime minister greeted in a tweet. Greeting the “hardworking engineers”, he also paid tributes to Visvesvaraya.
Remembering Shri Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary today. A civil engineer par excellence, he harnessed India’s water resources through dams. He was a visionary. The nation is ever grateful to his invaluable contributions. #EngineersDay2019 #Visvesvaraya pic.twitter.com/kCNU0lAL7r
— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) September 15, 2019
Vice President Of India, V. Naidu greeted in a tweet and said, He was a civil engineer par excellence, who harnessed India”s water resources through dams. “M Visvesvaraya was a visionary. The nation is ever grateful to his invaluable contribution.” I convey my warm greetings and good wishes to engineers on the occasion of Engineers Day celebrated as a mark of respect to Shri Visvesvaraya. While Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) asserted that, “A dream, an engineering marvel, that was envisioned 25 years ago for the people of Delhi & everyone who continues to come to this city with dreams. Delhi Metro wouldn’t have been possible without the engineers involved, who made this ambitious project a success”.
Interesting that Engineer’s Day is being celebrated on a Sunday. I guess the brains of Engineers truly are at work even on holidays! At Mahindra, we celebrate all our past and present engineers, and as this film shows, we are cheering on all our future engineers as well! pic.twitter.com/sUsiagERpy
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 15, 2019
Moreover, Business tycoon and chairman of Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra also took to Twitter to cheer for engineers on this day by sharing a small video as a tribute. “Interesting that Engineer’s Day is being celebrated today. He said that, “I guess the brains of Engineers truly are at work even on holidays!” Also, He shared a small video showing a little girl building a car race track from scratch all by herself”. “At Mahindra, we celebrate all our past and present engineers, and as this film shows, we are cheering on all our future engineers as well!” Mr Anand Mahindra asserted.
In the early 20th century, Sir MV became the chief engineer of the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam project in Mysore, which was then the biggest in Asia. In 1909, the master-builder was appointed as the special consultant engineer to make Hyderabad flood-proof in the face of approaching floods. His work even prevented Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion as well. Also, He implemented an extremely intricate system of irrigation in ‘Deccan’ and ‘encouraged private investment in industry’ during his tenure as Diwan of Mysore. Thus, He was called “Father of Modern Mysore State”.
