Every year, the country celebrates September 15 as National Engineer’s Day to appreciate the contributions of the Bharat Ratna awardee, Mokshagundam Vishweshvaraya, who was born on September 15, 1861, in a village called Muddenahalli in Karnataka.
He completed his bachelor of arts (BA) from the University of Madras and pursued civil engineering at College of Science in Pune. While serving as the Diwan of Mysore, he was awarded ‘Knight’ in 1915 as a commander of the British Indian empire by King George V. He received the Bharat Ratna in 1955, became a member of the London Institution of Civil Engineers before he was awarded a fellowship by the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bangalore.
Vishweshvaraya was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam in Karnataka’s Mandya district. The dam was built in 1924 and that time was India’s largest reservoir and provided drinking water to several cities. Vishweshvaraya was also the chief engineer of Hyderabad’s flood protection and drew up irrigation plans for Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Known for his contributions in the field of engineering, Vishweshvaraya installed an irrigation system with water floodgates at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune to raise the flood supply level and storage to the highest levels.
The eminent engineer, Vishweshvaraya breathed his last in 1962, leaving the world with his beneficial contributions. His memorial stands at Muddenahalli, which is managed by the Vishweshvaraya National Memorial Trust as his name lives on through various universities including Visvesvaraya Technological University in Belagavi.
Google doodle honours engineering genius Mokshagundam Vishweshvaraya
Famous Personalities tweeted #visweswaraya on Twitter
Remembering M Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary. He continues to be an inspiration for engineers, who play a pivotal role in building and developing the nation. #EngineersDay pic.twitter.com/ii1WQG34Au
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) September 15, 2018
Remembering the great Indian engineer, scholar and statesman Sri M. Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary. Saluting our engineers for their innovations and efforts to build the nation on this day which is celebrated as #EngineersDay across the country.
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) September 15, 2018