The Engineers’ Day in India is mainly to pay homage to Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, whose pioneering contributions laid the foundation for India’s modern engineering landscapes. Read more about MV in detail at Notes Baba for FREE.

About M Visvesvaraya

• Full Name – Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. Also referred to by his initials, MV.
• Born on – 15th September, 1861.
• Died on – 12/14 April 1962, aged 100.
• MV was an Indian civil engineer, administrator, and statesman, who served as the 19th Dewan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918.
• Visvesvaraya worked as a civil engineer for the government of British India and later as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Mysore.
• Awards – For his services to the Kingdom of Mysore and the Republic of India, he was awarded the Bharata Ratna by Government of India in 1955.
• Founded – He helped found and become a member of the Deccan Club and was its first secretary.

His Career

• 1885 –
  • Became an assistant engineer in 1885 at the Public Works Department, Bombay, in Bombay Presidency.
• 1899 – Invited to join the Indian Irrigation Commission where
  • implemented an intricate system of irrigation in the Deccan Plateau and
  • designed and patented a system of automatic weir water floodgates that were first installed in 1903 at Khadakvasla Dam near Pune.
  • Based on the success of these gates, the same system was installed at Tigra Dam in Gwalior and later at the KRS Dam at Mysore, Karnataka.
  • He later became the chief engineer of the Laxmi Talav Dam near Kolhapur.
• 1906 – 1907 –
  • Government of British India sent Visvesvaraya to the British Colony of Aden (present-day Yemen), to study water supply and drainage systems.
  • The project prepared by him was successfully implemented in Aden.
• 1908 –
  • He was one of the chief engineers of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad.
  • He suggested flood relief measures for the city, which was under constant threat by the Musi river.
  • He achieved celebrity status when he designed a flood protection system for the city.
  • He was instrumental in developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia at the time of its construction.
• 1909 –
  • In November 1909, at the invitation of Dewan V.P. Madhava Rao, Visvesvaraya joined as a chief engineer of Mysore State.
  • He was the Chief Engineer of the KRS Dam at Mysore.
  • He was also later the chairman of the board of engineers for the Tungabhadra Dam in Hospet, Karnataka.
• 1912 –
  • In 1912, Visvesvaraya was appointed Dewan of Mysore by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV.
  • He served for nearly seven years until 1918.
  • With support from the maharaja, Visvesvaraya contributed to the general development of the Kingdom of Mysore.
  • Visvesvaraya was responsible for the founding of factories and institutions funded for by the maharaja, including Mysore Soap Factory, Parasitoid Laboratory, Mysore Iron & Steel Works in Bhadravathi, Bangalore Polytechnic (now Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Bangalore) and more.
  • The Bangalore Press was also established during his tenure as Dewan.
  • He was also instrumental in the founding of Government Engineering College (now University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering) at Bangalore in 1917, one of the first engineering institutes in India.
  • He commissioned several new railway lines in Mysore Railways (now part of Southwestern Indian Railways).
  • While he was Dewan of Mysore, Visvesvaraya was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) by King George V for his contributions to the public goods.
• Visvesvaraya was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1911 by King Edward VII, when he was the Chief Engineer to the Government of Mysore.
• Visvesvaraya gave his technical advice for the location of Mokama Bridge over the Ganga in Bihar. At that time, he was over 90 years old.

His Recognition

• Every year on 15th September celebrated as Engineer’s Day in India, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania.
• Universities and Colleges –
  • Visvesvaraya Technological University in Belagavi (to which most engineering colleges in Karnataka are affiliated) was named in his honour,
• Prominent colleges –
  1. University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore;
  2. Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bangalore;
  3. Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur;
  4. Visvesvaraya Hostel, IIT (BHU) Varanasi;
• Two metro stations in India –
  • one in Bangalore on the Purple Line (Sir M. Visveshwaraya Station, Central College), and
  • another one in Delhi on the Pink Line (Sir Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh).
• The railway terminal in Baiyyapanahalli at Bangalore is named Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal after him.
• Museums –
  • Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore.