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Happy Engineers Day

Born on September 15, 1861, in a small village called Muddenahalli in Karnataka, Visvesvaraya received a degree in civil engineering from Pune College of Engineering. His expertise was in the fields of irrigation and flood disaster management. He rose to fame with his groundbreaking works in these fields with modern irrigation techniques as well as flood control and mitigation.
He designed the ‘automatic barrier water floodgates’ which was installed in Pune in 1903 at the Khadakvasla reservoir. He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam in the Mandya district of Karnataka and the chief engineer of the flood protection system for Hyderabad. He also established the famous Government Engineering College, now known as University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in 1917.

Awards & Achievements
Visvesvaraya was knighted as the Commander of the Order of the Indian
Empire (KCIE) by the British for his contributions to the society in 1915.
He was awarded with independent India’s greatest honor, The Bharat Ratna
in 1955 for his relentless work in the fields of engineering and education.
He is the recipient of several honorary doctoral degrees from eight
universities in India.

Personal Life & Legacy

Visvesvaraya was a man of principles and values. He was a very honest
person who gave his best towards his profession and country. He valued
cleanliness and was impeccably dressed even when he was well into his
90s.
This great Indian engineer lived a long and productive life and died on 14
April 1962 at the ripe old age of 102 years.
His alma mater, the College of Engineering, Pune, erected a statue in his honor.

Major works

• He was instrumental in designing and patenting a system of automatic weir floodgates in 1903
• Sir M V was the architect of the Great Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysuru. This is one of the major contributions of Vishweshwaraiah to Karnataka and to the nearby states.
• He designed a flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad by Mussi River.
• He is the one who designed a plan for road construction between Tirumala & Tirupati
• Sir M V played a key role in developing a system to protect Vishakapatnam port from sea erosion.
• He was responsible for founding the Mysore soap factory, the Mysore Iron & steel works (Bhadravathi), Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Institute, The Bangalore Agricultural University, and the State Bank of Mysore.
• He has served as the Diwan of the State of Mysore.
• Sir M V has served as the Chief Engineer of Mysore State in 1909 and as the Diwan of the princely state of Mysore in 1912, a position he held for seven years. As the Diwan, he made an immense contribution towards the overall development of the state.
• He also commissioned several new Railway lines in Mysore state.
• Sir Visheshwaraiah had designed and carried out the waterworks for the Municipality of Sukkur in 1895. He is also credited with the development of the Block System which would prevent the wasteful flow of water in dams.
• His work was becoming so popular that the Government of India sent him to Aden to study water supply and drainage system in 1906-07. He did so and designed a project based on his study which was implemented in Aden.
• Sir MV was awarded an Honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken 50 years.
• He was an Engineer who had planned the Indian Economy in 1934. In 1955, he was awarded Independent India’s Greatest Honor, The Bharath Ratna for his impeccable work in the fields of Engineering and education.