M Visveswaraiah: The man who engineered modern India

[parijataka]

Sir M Visvewariah was a pioneering engineer from the Mysore state and built many landmarks in Mysore and other parts of undivided India such as the drinking water supply to Sukkur town in today's Sindh province of Pakistan and improving the drainage system in Hyderabad, AP.

M Visveswaraiah: The man who engineered modern India

On April 10, 1909, Sir M. Visveswaraiah landed in Bombay after a tour of America. Madhava Rao who was the Mysore Diwan till March 31 1909, had already sent a telegram to Sir MV's Bombay address. It was a request to accept the position of Chief Engineer of Mysore State. The current Chief Engineer, Mac Hutchins was due to retire in June 1909. Therefore, the regent of Mysore State, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV was urgently looking for a suitable replacement.

Visveswaraiah was not in a position to accept this offer. There was the urgent problem of floods caused by the Musi River in Hyderabad, which routinely wreaked havoc. Sir MV had already accepted the offer of the Nizam of Hyderabad who had requested his services to fix this problem. Madhava Rao had requested Sir MV's services in the past but had met with rejection because he knew that Sir MV didn't like to return to Mysore.

Despite this, Madhava Rao's successor, Diwan T. Ananda Rao persisted. In a letter to Sir MV on May 24, 1910, he wrote, "His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore has, keeping in mind the high post you have decorated as well as your stellar services in the past, requested that your talents be put to use in service of the Mysore State again. Besides, you are a Mysorean by birth. Therefore, His Highness is confident in feeling that you will accept his request. You will find several opportunities to put your talents to use to serve your own homeland. There exist opportunities here for improving irrigation and other developmental activities. His Highness is also aware that your mind is disposed more towards public service than simply enjoying the perks of a government office. As things currently stand, the plans, programmes and policies of Mysore Government match your attitudinal disposition."

Visveswaraiah, who wasn't inclined to accept any governmental position requested three weeks to respond. Then he wrote back, "Does the government currently have the requisite amount of industrialisation projects both in size and importance? Does the government have any vision to start technical training institutions, which are futuristic in nature? Or does it intend to avail of my services for executing ordinary engineering projects as is now the case? Please provide these details."

Then Visveswaraiah turned towards Hyderabad. He not only reined in the erratic Musi River but built Hussain Sagar and Himayat Sagar to hold excess water. After this, he turned to Vishakapatanam where he developed a system to check sea erosion. Meanwhile, the Mysore State had responded to his letter: "All the details you had requested are available in the government's list of programmes and policies. His Highness considers that it is his fortune to avail of your valuable services and suggestions."

On November 15 1909, Visveswaraiah took charge as the Chief Engineer of Mysore State. This incident is narrated in detail in Memoirs of my Working Life by Sir MV himself. This was how Visveswaraiah accepted a senior position in the government on his own terms, by laying down conditions to the Maharaja himself, and did not go asking around for a job so that he could earn a salary.

The Mysore University Syndicate concluded its meeting recently on the subject of commemorating the University's centenary in 2016. The Syndicate decided to erect statues of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV and Sir MV, the inspiration behind the founding of the University. His reasoning was as simple as it was visionary: "If Australia and Canada could have universities of their own for less than a million population, cannot Mysore with a population of not less than 60 lakhs have a University of its own?" And the vision was implemented in 1916.

And then there's that other staggering achievement. Today, if Mysore, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Ramanagar and Bangalore are abundantly green, if the people who live there are ensured of clean drinking water, the entire credit for this goes to Sir MV. If he had simply been a salaried government employee instead of working for the State's welfare, he would've been similar to any other salaried government employee, not a figure who is remembered with reverence for generations.

The KRS dam, Hindustan Aircraft Factory (today's HAL), Bhadravati Iron and Steel Factory, Government Soap Factory, State Bank of Mysore, Kannada Sahitya Parishad, the Mysore University, the Shivanasamudram dam, Jog Hydroelectric Project, Block System (an irrigation project), Parasitoid Laboratory, Mysore Sugar Mills, Mysore Sandal Soap, the (Government) Printing Press, the Bhatkal harbour, the Sandal oil extraction factory, Hindu Modern Hotel, public libraries in Bangalore, Bangalore University's Engineering College, Jayachamarajendra Vocational Training Institute, the Century Club in Cubbon Park, the Deccan Club in Pune, the Agricultural Research College at Hebbal, Bangalore, the compulsory primary education policy (the first in India), the Tiger dam at Gwalior, the Khadakvasla dam at Pune, the barrages to check floods of the Mahanadi River in Odisha"¦ all of these are Sir MV's brainchildren, the achievements of exactly one person.

The fact that the British Government honoured him with a Knighthood way back in 1915 is a measure of the greatness of Sir MV.

Equally, the story of building the KRS dam in the face of stiff opposition is legendary. Sir MV managed to complete the dam of that size in a record four years. In fact, this is the only dam till date to have been completed well ahead of schedule.

"Indeed, the first recipient of this nation's highest civilian honour, Bharata Ratna for public service, also happens to be Sir M. Visveswaraiah." This land is rightly blessed to give birth to a son like him, which is why we celebrate Engineers' Day on his birthday. In gratitude.

Happy Engineers' Day!

This is an abridged translation of a Kannada piece by Pratap Simha in Kannada Prabha, published on September 15, 2012