Why Is Visvesvaray Birthday Celebrated As Engineers Day In India
India is a land with a lot of brilliant minds since pre historic minds. From the ancient times till now, there are many eminent and great personalities which have added to the pride of the nation. The various great people of India and their discoveries have blessed the field of science and technology with a lot of new facts, theories, laws etc. The world is benefitted with the contribution of India in various fields.
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was one such distinguished scientist who added new ideas and theories to the world of science. M. Visvesvaraya was an engineer but along with engineering, he contributed a lot in building of the nation. Born to a Telugu Brahmin family, M. Visvesvaraya was the son of Srinivas Sastry and Venkachamma. He was born on 15th September 1860 at a place called Muddenuhalli, the village near Kolar district in Karnataka.
Since childhood, Visvesvaraya was taught to be a down to earth person and live the life with various ethics and simplicity. The early education of Visvesvaraya was done in Chikkaballapur in his mother’s school. After that, he moved to Bangalore for higher studies. M. Visvesvaraya lost his father at the age of 15 years. The family suffered from poverty and this affected his studies also. To cope up with the financial needs, Visvesvaraya started tuitions. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1881 from Central College Bangalore.
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya faced many challenges in life. But he was a very strong person. He decided to do his engineering and so he went to Pune. There he joined the Engineering college of Pune. In 1883, he successfully completed his engineering with flying colours. IN 1883, he got the first position in L.C.E. and F.C.E. Examinations.
The engineering career of M. Visvesvaraya started with the joining of Public Works Department as an assistant engineer in Nasik. In n time Visvesvaraya made his contribution to the nation by solving one of the biggest problems that every nation faces: the problem of water crisis. Agriculture is the main occupation of India. Visvesvaraya developed a new system of irrigation- the Block System under which each area was divided under blocks and water was supplied to them according to the needs and type of the soil. This solved the problem of water crisis in many areas, especially the town Sikkur near Sindhu River. He also found the solution to the clogging of rivers and dams by putting steel doors to stop the flow of waste.
There are various unprecedented contributions of Visvesvaraya in the field of engineering and development. He was the designer of one of the biggest dams in India, the Krishnarajasagara dam. He wanted to develop the nation also for which he supported setting up of industries. The Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant Limited (VISL) was established by him at Mysore. The railway line from Bangalore to Mysore was started by him.
Visvesvaraya was a person who believed in the principle of simple living and high thinking. His honesty and sincerity was praiseworthy. This was the reason for him being chosen as the Diwan of Mysore state. The state progressed a lot under his control.
Visvesvaraya was a great personality. His good nature and a wonderful vision helped in the development of the nation. The Visvesvaraya College of Engineering was named after him. In 1961, a stamp was brought out under his name. He was awarded with India’s greatest honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1955. He died at the age of 101 on 14th April, 1962.
Visvesvaraya’s Contributions and Achievements
- After completing Bachelor degree, Visvesvaraya worked in municipality of Sukkur. Looking at his tremendous work, Government of India sent Visvesvaraya to study water supply and drainage system at Aden in the year 1906.
- After his studies in Aden Visvesvaraya supervised and designed many projects with his high intelligence and capabilities.
- In 1909, he was appointed as Chief Engineer of Mysore state.
- In 1912, he became the Diwan of Mysore state and he held that position for seven years. In his period Mysore state saw tremendous development.
- In 1917, Visvesvaraya founded Government Engineering College in Bangalore which was renamed as Visvesvaraya College of Engineering.
- In 1924 he served as Chief Engineer for the constructing a dam and Krishnarajasagara lake over Kaveri river.
- In 1915, The British awarded Visvesvaraya as Knight Commander Of The Indian Empire for his immense contribution towards the development of society.
- In 1955 Sir M. Visvesvaraya was presented the India’s greatest honour ‘Bharat Ratna’ for his relentless work in the fields of engineering and education.
- He has also received several honorary doctorates from eight Indian Universities.
Sir M. Visvesvaraya is the epitome of values. He did not be a normal engineer who designed and executed his project. Instead he was a man who stood by ethics, values and dedication. As a tribute to this great personality, every year India celebrates his birthday i.e. September 15th as “Engineers Day”.
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