Engineers’ Day is celebrated on September 15 every year in India commemorating the birthday

of one of the greatest engineers in India so far and a great human being Sir Mokshagundam
Visvesvarayya, popularly known as Sir MV.
ENGINEERS’ DAY 2019
Year 2019 will mark the 51st anniversary of the Engineers Day in India and 158th birth anniversary
of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya. It will be celebrated on 15 September, Sunday.
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, born on 15 September, 1861, in Muddenahalli near Chikkaballapur.
Sir MV was internationally popular for his brilliance and his great achievement in harnessing
water resources in India. This is also important to know that all over the world engineers’ day is
celebrated on different dates.

Engineers are the professionals who design, build and test the construction, raw materials and
process of the project; they also consider the restrictions imposed by the regulation, feasibility,
safety and cost of the project.

Engineers play a very significant role in every walk of our lives. They convert the theoretical
knowledge of basic sciences into actual products and thus make our lives easy.

Engineers possess versatile minds and help in filling the gap between science, technology and
the community. Engineers in India contribute greatly to the nation’s technological and industrial
growth.

WHY DO WE CELEBRATE ENGINEERS’ DAY?

Engineers’ day is celebrated for the great works of Sir MV towards the development of various
places which are the most developed cities of today’s India. Sir MV is an international hero,
recognized for his mastermind in harnessing water resources; he had successfully designed and
constructed several river dams, bridges and revolutionized the irrigation system in India by
implementing irrigation and drinking water system all over India.

SIGNIFICANCE OF ENGINEERS’ DAY CELEBRATION IN INDIA

Engineers’ day is celebrated for the great works of Sir MV towards the development of various
places which are the most developed cities of today’s India. Sir MV is an international hero,
recognized for his mastermind in harnessing water resources; he had successfully designed and
constructed several river dams, bridges and revolutionized the irrigation system in India by
implementing irrigation and drinking water system all over India.

Among all the developing countries, India is one of the prime exporters of light and heavy
engineering goods. India produces a wide range of items. The bulk of capital goods required for
mining equipment, steel & petrochemical plants, cement, fertilizer, power projects are made in
India. The engineers of India are also involved in making equipment for irrigation projects,
construction machinery, cotton textile & sugar mill machinery, diesel engines, transport vehicles,
tractors, etc. Thus, the role of Engineers in a developing India is not only diverse, but it is also
very significant.

ENGINEERS DAY HISTORY

India as a nation reportedly creates approximately 20 lakhs engineers every year including all the
fields and disciplines such as computer science, electronics, civil, electrical, technical, mechanical,
etc. The engineers celebrate engineers’ day every year on 15th September in the honor of Sir
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, one of the greatest engineers of his time, a great educationist,
Statesman, a scholar and indeed the most celebrated engineer India has produced till date.
Sir MV has been the personification of everything that a country needs to endeavor for a better
future. Thus, the Engineers’ day is marked as a tribute to his achievements and will towards
growth and development.

Early life of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

Sir MV was born on September 15th, 1861 to father Srinivasa Sastry and mother Venkachamma at
Muddenahalli village in Kolar district of Karnataka. He lost his father at the age of 15 and moved
with his mother to Bangalore where his maternal uncle H Ramaiah lived.
He got admitted to the Wesleyan Mission High School in 1875; after completing his schooling, he
completed B.A with distinction from Central College of Bangalore and Civil Engineering from
College of Engineering, Pune in 1881 and 1883 respectively. He secured first rank in the LCE and
FCE examinations (equivalent to BE Examination of the current days).

Professional Life
He started his professional life as an Assistant Engineer with Public Works Department (PWD) at
Mumbai (earlier Bombay) in 1884 and was later requested to join the Indian Irrigation
Commission. As a Public Works Department engineer, he accomplished several projects related
to maintenance of public buildings, road construction and laying out city developments plans in
several important towns.

He worked with complete dedication and perseverance and got promoted as Chief Engineer in
Mysore State in 1909. He also worked as Chairman of Bhadravati Iron Works and later became
the member of Back Bay Enquiry Committee, London. He was also the member of the governing
council of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Dewan of Mysore State for 6 years, President of
Education and Industrial Development Committees in Mysore State and the Member of the
Governing Council of TATA Iron and Steel Company (TISCO)

Professional Life
He started his professional life as an Assistant Engineer with Public Works Department (PWD) at
Mumbai (earlier Bombay) in 1884 and was later requested to join the Indian Irrigation
Commission. As a Public Works Department engineer, he accomplished several projects related
to maintenance of public buildings, road construction and laying out city developments plans in
several important towns.

He worked with complete dedication and perseverance and got promoted as Chief Engineer in
Mysore State in 1909. He also worked as Chairman of Bhadravati Iron Works and later became
the member of Back Bay Enquiry Committee, London. He was also the member of the governing
council of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Dewan of Mysore State for 6 years, President of
Education and Industrial Development Committees in Mysore State and the Member of the
Governing Council of TATA Iron and Steel Company (TISCO).

Achievements of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

Though there are several achievements in the life of Sir MV and each cannot be described but
out of the most recognizable ones is the Block System of Irrigation; a scheme prepared by him at
the illustration of the then president of the Indian Irrigation Commission. He wanted to make
irrigation mechanism more popular and profitable in the Bombay Presidency and to yield a
practical return on the expenditure that the Government had incurred on them at that time.
During his stay in the Bombay Presidency, he got closer to some of the gems like Gopal Krishna
Gokhale, Mahadeo Govind Ranade and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Another notable task accomplished by Sir MV was the system of automatic weir water floodgates
first installed in the year 1903 at Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune, designed and patented by him.
These gates were first used to control the floods of the Mootha Canal flowing through
Pune. Similar gates were later used in the Krishnasagar dam in Mysore, Tigra Dam in Gwalior and
other large storage dams.

The works of Sir MV were highly successful and notable followed by the invitation from the
Nizam’s Government to take up the responsibility and charge of the Chief Engineer’s position at
Hyderabad in 1909. There he designed a flood protection system for protecting the city of
Hyderabad from floods and consequently earned a celebratory status, as reported by Newspaper
‘The Hindu’.
Later in 1909, Sir MV joined the Mysore Services as Chief Engineer and after serving there for
three consecutive years as the Chief Engineer, he was appointed as Dewan of Mysore by the then
ruler Krishnarajendra Wodeyar and contributed to the all-round development of Karnataka by
architecting the city; Sir MV served there as Dewan for six years. He also built several dams in
Mumbai, some of which are functional till date. He was the chief engineer during the construction
of Krishna Sagar Dam on the Kaveri River and the adjoining Brindavan Gardens.

He played a notable role in turning around the Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works, set up the
Mysore Sandalwood Oil Factory and contributed to the founding of the Bank of Mysore and also
built one of the most praiseworthy dams i.e. Krishnarajasagara Dam in Karnataka. Sir MV was also
instrumental in getting the highly prestigious Mysore University established. The famous Sri
Jayachamaraja Polytechnic Institute of Bangalore was built on the recommendation of Sir MV.

Bharat Ratna
Due to his great contributions, Sir MV received India’s highest honor and the most prestigious
award, the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1955. King George V also knighted him as the Commander of the
Indian Empire for his innumerable contributions to the benefit of the public and social cause.

Values of Sir MV
Sir MV is highly respected and recognized as a man of values. He is known as the perfectionist;
the one who completed even the smallest of the tasks flawlessly and with utmost perfection. He
was very punctual and popular for his dressing sense. His determination, courage and will power
converted many impossible projects into reality. Sir MV was very health conscious; even at the
age of 92, he was as fit as a young man and participated in every activity and proceeding. The
great personality Sir MV left for his heavenly abode in the year 1962.

Conclusion
Engineers have been the most instrumental characters for the development of any nation. India
is achieving great recognition as a developing nation in the international world and this has been
possible due to the significant role of Indian Engineers. Sir MV was one such engineer who
changed the face of irrigation system, water resource system and several other things. Needless
to mention, he is still the great inspiration for everyone. Almost every engineer wants to follow his
footprints and contribute to the development of India. In order to remember his significant
contributions, people of India celebrate engineers’ day on his birthday i.e. September 15th every
year.

Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, who was fondly called Sir MV, was literally the builder of India, the builder of
dams and water systems, to be precise, which not only boosted irrigation facilities but also saved a large number
of people from floods. He was an engineering pioneer of India whose genius reflected in harnessing of water
resources and building and consolidation of dams across the country.

Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, born on 15 September, 1861, in Muddenahalli near Chikkaballapur. He went on to

become India’s most prolific civil engineer, dam builder, economist, statesman, and can be counted among the
last century’s foremost nation-builders.

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um=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Every year India celebrates Engineer's Day on September 15, the birth anniversary of Visves ..

He went on to become India’s most prolific civil engineer, dam builder, economist and statesman. He was one of
the most prominent builders of India in the 20th century.

When Visvesvaraya was the Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918, he transformed the state into what was then
known as a 'model state'. For his numerous industrial, economic and social projects, he was called "Father of
Modern Mysore".

Visvesvaraya is credited with inventing the block system, automated doors that close the water overflows. He
designed and patented the floodgates which were first installed at the Khadakwasla reservoir in Pune in 1903.

Visvesvaraya established Government Engineering College in 1917 in Bengaluru which was later named Un ..

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