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Hello All,

I wish you and your family, friends, near and dear........

A very happy, honoring and graceful Engineers’ Day wishes (15/09/09).

Engineers’ Day in India is celebrated on September 15th of every year to commemorate the birthday of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvariah (1860-1965). He was called a wizard in engineering. He was an eminent Indian engineer and statesman. He was a recipient of the Indian republic's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was also knighted by the British for his myriad/large contributions to the public good. Visvesvariah was born to Srinivasa Sastry and Venkachamma at Muddenahalli village, Chikkaballapur district of present-day Karnataka state in India, which was then the princely state of Mysore. He studied civil engineering at the College of Science, Pune and upon graduating as an engineer, took up a job with the Public Works Department (PWD) of Bombay, now known as Mumbai, and was later invited to join the Indian Irrigation Commission.

He implemented an extremely intricate system of irrigation in the Deccan area and also designed and patented a system of automatic weir water floodgates which were employed to raise the flood supply level of storage in the reservoir to the highest level likely to be attained by its flood without causing any damage to the dam. Visvesvariah achieved celebrity status when he designed a superior flood protection system to have protection from floods and was also instrumental in developing a system to protect sea ports from sea erosion. He supervised the construction of the KRS (Krishna Raja Sagar) dam across the Cauvery River from concept to inauguration. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia at the time it was built.

He was also called the precursor of economic planning in India. He took an interest not in engineering alone, but was capable of applying his talent to many allied matters connected with the development of the nation. His learned discourse on economic planning in India entitled 'Planned Economy for India and Reconstructing India' was the first available document on the planning effort of the country and it is still held as the parent source matter for economic planners. He was known for sincerity, time management and dedication to a cause.

To commemorate the birthday of Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvariah, the Council of the Institution of Engineers in India, decided to observe September 15th as the Engineers' Day every year. This is celebrated throughout the country through all the Centres of the Institution with learned discourses on a theme specified by the Council every year.

Many many happy returns of the day.

All the best and take care….

With thanks, regards and best wishes,
G.Srikanth.

# posted by Srikanth @ 1:53 PM