1. Early years

2. Career
     Career timeline  

3. Diwan of Mysore

4. Awards and honours
     Recognition    Memorial at Muddenahalli  

5. Works

6. References

7. External links

Sir Mokshagundam Viswesvarayya KCIE, FASc^[1] also spelled as Sir Mokshagondam Visweswarayya, popularly known as Sir MV (15 September 1861 – 12 April 1962)^[2][3] was an Indian chief civil engineer, scholar, statesman, politician ^[4] and the 19th Diwan of Mysore, who served from 1912 to 1919.^[5] He received India's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the British Indian Empire (KCIE) by King George V for his contributions to the public good. 15 September is celebrated as Engineer's Day in India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania in his memory. He is held in high regard as a pre-eminent Engineer of India.

He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the North-West suburb of Mysuru city and chief engineer of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad.^[6]

Early years

Mokshagundam Viswesvarayya was born on 15 September 1861^[7] in Muddenahalli village (now located in Chikkaballapura District, but part of Kolar district at the time of his birth) in the princely state of Mysore (now Karnataka), India.^[8] His father, Mokshagundam Srinivasa Sastry, was a school teacher and a noted Sanskrit scholar,^[9] while his mother, Venkatalakshamma, was a homemaker.

Viswesvarayya lost his father at the age of 12. He got his primary education at Bandahalli Primary School, Chikkaballapur, and attended a high school in Bangalore. In 1881, he received a BA degree from Central College, Bangalore, (then an affiliate of the University of Madras), a rare accomplishment in India of that era. He then enrolled at College of Engineering, Pune.^[10][11] He received LCE (Licenciate in Civil Engineering) equivalent to DCE (Diploma in Civil Engineering) from the University of Bombay to which the College of Engineering was affiliated.

Career

Viswesvarayya took a job with the PWD of Bombay and later was invited to join the Indian Irrigation Commission. He implemented an extremely intricate system of irrigation in Deccan.

He 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 Mandya/Mysore, Karnataka.

In 1906–07, Government of India sent him to Aden to study water supply and drainage systems. The project prepared by him was implemented in Aden successfully.^[12]

Viswesvarayya achieved celebrity status when he designed a flood protection system for city of Hyderabad. He was instrumental in developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion.^[13] This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia when it was built.^[14] Viswesvarayya gave his valuable technical advice for the location of Mokama Bridge over Ganga in Bihar. At the time, he was over 90 years old.^[15][16]

He was called "Father of Modern Mysore State". During his service with the 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 in Bangalore, Bangalore Agricultural University, State Bank of Mysore, Century Club, Mysore Chamber of Commerce (presently known as the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI), the apex Chamber of Commerce in Karnataka, University Viswesvarayya College of Engineering (Bangalore) and numerous other industrial ventures. He encouraged private investment in the industry during his tenure as Diwan of Mysore. He was instrumental in charting out the plan for road construction between Tirumala and Tirupati.^[17][18]

He was known for sincerity, time management, and dedication to a cause. Bangalore Press and Bank of Mysore were established during his tenure. A very important part of his nature was his love for Kannada. He set up the Kannada Parishat for the upliftment of Kannada. He wanted seminars for Kannada lovers to be instituted and conducted in Kannada itself.^[7]

Viswesvarayya is known to have designed and planned the entire area of Jayanagar in south Bangalore. The foundation of Jayanagar was laid in 1959. It was one of first planned neighbourhoods in Bangalore and, at the time, the largest in Asia. It is believed that locality, designed by Viswesvarayya, is one of the best-planned layouts in Asia.

Career timeline

• Joined service as assistant engineer in Bombay, 1885; served in Nasik, Khandesh and Pune
• Services lent to municipality of Sukkur in Sind, 1894: designed and carried out the water works of that municipality, 1895
• Executive Engineer, Surat, 1896;
• Assistant Superintending Engineer, Pune, 1897–99; visited China and Japan, 1898
• Executive engineer for Irrigation, Pune, 1899
• Sanitary engineer, Bombay, member, Sanitary Board, 1901; gave evidence before Indian Irrigation Commission, 1901
• Designed and constructed automatic gates patented by him at Lake Fife Storage Reservoir; introduced a new system of irrigation known as the "Block System", 1903; represented the Bombay Government at the Simla Irrigation Commission, 1904; on special duty, 1905
• Superintending engineer, 1907; visited Egypt, Canada, USA, and Russia, 1908
• Services lent as consulting engineer, Hyderabad, to supervise and carry out engineering works in connection with the Musi floods, 1909
• Retired from British service, 1909
• Chief engineer and secretary to the government of Mysore, 1909
• Dewan of Mysore, PWD and Railway, 1913
• Board of directors of Tata Steel, 1927–1955^[19][20][21]

Diwan of Mysore

After opting for voluntary retirement in 1908, he took a foreign tour to study industrialised nations. After, for a short period, he worked for the Nizam of Hyderabad, India. He suggested flood relief measures for Hyderabad town, which was under constant threat by the Musi river. During November 1909, Viswesvarayya was appointed as chief engineer of Mysore State. Further, during 1912, he was appointed as diwan (second minister) of the princely state of Mysore. He was diwan for seven years.^[5]

With the support of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, Maharaja of Mysore, Viswesvarayya made good contribution as diwan to the all-round development of Mysore state. Not only the achievements listed above, but many other industries and public works owe their inception or active nurturing to him.

He was instrumental in the founding of the Government Engineering College at Bangalore in 1917, one of the first engineering institutes in India.^[22] This institution was later named the University Viswesvarayya College of Engineering after its founder. He commissioned several new railway lines in Mysore state.

Awards and honours

Viswesvarayya was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1911.^[23] In 1915, while he was the Diwan of Mysore, Viswesvarayya was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) by the British for his myriad contributions to the public good.^[24] After India attained independence, he was awarded the nation's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955.^[25] Sir M.V. was awarded honorary membership of the London Institution of Civil Engineers.^[26] He was awarded a fellowship of the Indian Institute of Science (based in Bangalore). He was awarded several honorary doctoral degrees including D.Sc., LL.D., D.Litt. from eight universities in India. He was president of the 1923 session of the Indian Science Congress. He was the most popular person from Karnataka, in a newspaper survey conducted by Prajavani.

On 15 September 2018, to celebrate his 157th birthday anniversary Viswesvarayya was honored with Google Doodle.^[27]

Recognition

Viswesvarayya has received recognition in many fields, most notably the education and the engineering sectors. Viswesvarayya Technological University which is based in Belagavi (to which most engineering colleges in Karnataka are affiliated) has been named in his honour, as well as prominent colleges like University Viswesvarayya College of Engineering, Bangalore, Sir M. Viswesvarayya Institute of Technology, Bangalore and Viswesvarayya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur.

The Viswesvarayya Industrial and Technological Museum in Bangalore is named in his honour.

Two metro stations in India, one in Bengaluru on the Purple Line (Sir M. Viswesvarayya Station, Central College), and another one in Delhi on the Pink Line (Sir Visveswaraiah Moti Bagh), have been named after him.^[29]

Memorial at Muddenahalli

The Viswesvarayya National Memorial Trust manages a memorial of Viswesvarayya at his birthplace Muddenahalli. The memorial exhibits his awards, titles and personal belongings, including his living room, spectacles, cups, books and a block with which his visiting cards were printed. Models of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam, which Viswesvarayya designed and supervised the construction of, are exhibited. The memorial is adjacent to his house, which was refurbished and regarded as a temple by the locals.^[30][31]

Works

• {{Citation |last=Visvesvaraya |first=M |title=Reconstructing India |publisher=P. S. King & son, ltd |year=1920 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J0I_AAAAIAAJ |oclc=2430680}}
• {{Citation |last=Visvesvaraya |first=M |title=Planned economy for India |place=Bangalore |publisher=Bangalore Press |year=1936 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Akc_AAAAIAAJ |oclc=19373044}}
• {{Citation |last=Visvesvaraya |first=M |title=Memories of my working life |place=Bangalore |year=1951 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PkY_AAAAIAAJ |oclc=6459729}}
• {{Citation |last=Visvesvaraya |first=M |title=Unemployment in India; its causes and cure |place=Bangalore |publisher=The Bangalore Press |year=1932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkYRAQAAIAAJ |oclc=14348788}}
• {{Citation |last=Visvesvaraya |first=M |title=Speeches |place=Bangalore |publisher=Govt. Press |year=1917 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5q4CAAAAMAAJ |oclc=6258388}}
• A Brief Memoir of my complete working life, Government Press, Bangalore, 1959

References

External links

• {{Internet Archive author |sname=Sir, M. Visvesvaraya}}
• [https://archive.org/details/VisvesvarayaAutobiography Memoirs of my working life (1951)]
• Sir M.Viswesvarayya- Dismantling the Myths : Critical examination of Sir M. Viswesvarayya as a Civil engineer [https://books.google.co.in/books/about/SIR_M_VISVESVARAYA_DISMANTLING_THE_MYTHS.html?id=-aphDwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y]

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