Updated: September 15, 2020 9:42:07 am
National Engineer Day is celebrated on September 15 on the anniversary of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya’s birth. (Photos: Visvesvaraya National Memorial Trust / Pratham Books)
Engineer’s Day 2020: The country celebrates Engineer’s Day on September 15 to acknowledge the contributions of the eminent engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was born on September 15, 1861 in a town called Muddenahalli in Karnataka. He had studied Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Madras University and studied civil engineering at Pune Faculty of Science.
Visvesvaraya’s career spanned more than 34 years with his first job as an assistant engineer in the Mumbai Government Department of Public Works. He later joined the Mysore service as a chief engineer and had contributed to various technical projects in Hyderabad, Mysore, Maharashtra and Odisha.
Some of his contributions include the block irrigation system in the Deccan canals in 1899, the floodgate irrigation system in the Khadakvasla Reservoir. The irrigation system was later installed at Gwalior’s Tigra Dam and Mysuru’s Krishnaraja Sagara Dam (KRS), the latter of which created one of the largest reservoirs in Asia at the time.
IN VIDEO | Engineers Day: Sir M. Visvesvaraya, the builder of dams, bridges and a nation
He voluntarily retired from state service in 1918, due to his disagreement with the proposal to set aside state jobs for the “non-Brahmin” community.
Apart from his contributions in the field of engineering, he was also called the “forerunner of economic planning in India” according to the Institution of Engineers of India (IEI). His books, “Reconstructing India” and “Planned Economy of India” were published in 1920 and 1934, respectively. He was awarded the knighthood in 1915 while serving as Diwan of Mysore, and received Bharat Ratna in 1955.
The eminent engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya breathed his last in 1962.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay up to date with the latest headlines
For the latest education news, download the Indian Express app.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
.
