Sir Mokshagudam Visvesvarayya , Popularly known as Sir. MV; was scholar and notable Indian engineer. He was a recipient of the Indian republic ‘s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna , in 1955. Every year, 15 September is celebrated as Engineer’s day in India in his memory . He is held in high regards pre- eminent engineer of India . He was the chief designer of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad , as well as the chief engineer responsible for the construction of Krishna Sagar Dam in Mysore.
Visvesvarayya was born in 1860 , in the kingdom of Mysor, to a family of Mokshagandam Srinivasan Sastry and Venkatalakshmamma in the present day Muddenahalli village , 40 miles fron Bangalore, India.
Visvesvarayya lost his father at the age of 15. He enrolled for primary school in Chikballapur, and attended his high school in Bangalore. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Madras University in 1881 and later studied civil engineering at the Prestigious college of Engineering Pune.Upon graduating as an engineer, Visvesvarayya took up a job with the Public Works Departement ( PWD) of Mumbai and was later invited to join the Indian irrigation commission . He implemented an extremely intricate system of irrigation in the Deccan Area. He also designed and patented a system of automatic weir water flood-gates that were first installed in 1903 at the Khadakvasla Reservoir near Pune.
Visvesvarayya achieved celebrity status when he designed a flood protection system of the city Hyderabad . He was instrumental in developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion . Visvesvarayya supervised the construction of the KRS Dam across the Cauvery river from concept to inauguration . This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia when it was build . He was rightly called the “ Father of modern Mysore state”( now Karnataka)(: During his period of service with the Government of Mysore state , he was responsible for the foundation of ( under the Patronage of Maysore Government) the Maysor Soap Factory.
The Parasitoide laboratory , the Mysore iron & steel works( now known as Visvesvarayya iron and steel Limited) in Bhadravathi, the Sri. jayachamarajendra polytechnic institute the Bangalore Agriculture University , the state bank of Mysore.
Visvesvarayya was appointed a companion of the order of the Indian ( CIE) in 1911. In 1915 while he was the Diwan of Mysore , VIsvesvarayya was knighted as a Knight Commander of the order of the Indian Empire ( KCIE) by the British for his myriad contributions to the public good. After India attained independence , he was given the nation’s highest honour , the Bharat Ratna ,in 1955 .He was honoured with honorary membership of the international institution of civil Engineers ( based in London) and a fellowship of The Indian institution of science ( based in Bangalore) he was awarded several honorary doctorial degrees like D.Sc, LL.D, D, LItt. From eight universities in India . He was president of the 1923 Session of Indian science Congress , Sir M.V. was awarded honorary Membership of London institution of civil Engineers for an unbroken 50 years . he was the most popular person from Karnataka , in a newspaper servey conducted by Praja Vani . this great personality of India died on 14th April 1962 at the age of 101 in Bangalore.
