Engineer’s Day: Remembering M. Visvesvaraya On His 158th Birth Anniversary

Bhubaneswar: National Engineers Day also known as ‘NED’ is observed annually on September 15 in India as a tribute to the great Engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was born on this day in 1861. M. Visvesvaraya has immensely contributed in the field of engineering. He was also called the “precursor of economic planning in India” by the Institution of Engineers India (IEI).  The engineer is best known for his discourse “Planned Economy for India and Reconstructing India” which described the country’s planning efforts. He was a master of irrigation design and referred as ‘Father of Engineers’ by many.

Born in a village called Muddenahalli in Karnataka, M. Visvesvaraya went on to become India’s most prolific civil engineer, dam builder, economist, statesman, and his name features among the list of India’s foremost nation-builders. Google has dedicated a special doodle to mark Engineer’s Day.

M. Visvesvaraya also served as ‘Diwan’ of the erstwhile Mysore state from 1912 to 1918. He was the chief engineer during the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysore.  Besides, he was alsothe chief designer of the flood protection system for Hyderabad city during the Nizam’s rule. Visvesvaraya also designed and patented the automatic weir water floodgates installed at the Khadakwasla reservoir in Pune 1903. He also played a pivotal role in transforming the Mysore state into an ‘ideal’ or ‘model state’ in British India. Visvesvaraya also headed the establishment of Government Engineering College in Bangalore at 1917.

The Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological museum in Bangalore was set up in his memory to showcase his contribution in the field of engineering and technology. For his outstanding contribution to the realm of engineering and the society in general, he was awarded the ‘Bharat Ratna’ by the Government of India conferred ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1955. He was also conferred the British knighthood by King George V which bestowed him with the prestigious prefix of “sir”.

The 2017 theme is “Role of Engineers in a developing India”. To commemorate the 158^th birth anniversary of M. Visvesvaraya, Google dedicates a special which has a coloured sketch of Sir M. Visvesvaraya with a bridge in the background.

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