Sir MV

      Sir Mokshagundam Visweswaraiah the great engineer forever. He was an eminent and statesman and played a key role in building of modern India. Born: September 15, 1860. His Achievements: Architect of Krishnarajasagar Dam; devised steel doors to stop the wasteful flow of water in dams; honored with Bharat Ratna. He instrumental in developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion. Visvesvaraya designed automatic gates for increasing the storage of water level in dams. These gates were first used at Khadakvasla dam to control the flood of the Mootha Canal flowing through Poona. Visvesvaraya got the gates (Automatic Sluice Gates) Patented in his name (1901-03). Here we quote what Visvesvaraya wrote on the working of the gates designed by him : `The reservoir overflowed every year upto a height of six to eight feet above the crest of the surplus weir. A system of automatic gates was designed by me to raise the storage water level of the lake permanently by about 8 feet (over 2 metres) above the original surplus weir. This increased the storage in the reservoir by about 25 per cent without raising the dam. The gates held up water in the lake till it rose to the full height of the previous floods but whenever water rose above that level the gates automatically opened and allowed the surplus water to escape. When water in the lake again fell below the 8 feet (over 2 metres) level over the surplus water the gates automatically closed and stopped further loss of water.` The gates similar to the ones developed by Visvesvaraya were later used in the Tagra Dam in Gwalior, Krishnasagar dam in Mysore and other large storage dams. In August 1927 Mahatma Gandhi visited Mysore State (reported in September 1, 1927 issue of Young India). In a speech during that visit Gandhi said,`Bhadravathi (Iron Works), like Krishnarajasagar Dam, is a tribute to the patriotism and constructive genius of Visvesvaraya, who has placed his talents, knowledge and industry and all his time and energy at the service of Mysore.  One thing that strikes us most here is that the whole undertaking is from top to bottom a self-contained one.  The originator is a Mysorean, at any rate, entirely South Indian. That is a thing about which you and India may well be proud.`Dedication & excellence: He did his work with passion & dedication and always gave his best. One of his popular quote is: `Remember, your work may be only to sweep a railway crossing, but it is your duty to keep it so clean that no other crossing in the world is as clean as yours` Visvesvaraya pleaded for a `self-examination not moral or spiritual, but secular - that is, a survey and analysis of local conditions in India and a comparative study of the same` with those in other parts of the globe.It is interesting to note here what Gandhiji and Visvesvaraya thought of each other's views on 'solving the problem of the overgrowing poverty of the masses'. Both had tremendous respect for each other. In 1934 Gandhiji in his letter to Visvesvaraya wrote : `In spite of strength of my conviction, I have certain great regard for your fine abilities and love for the country and that shall be unabated whether I have the good fortune to secure your cooperation or face your honest opposition... I see that we hold perhaps diametrically opposite views. My conviction based upon extensive experiences of village life is that in India at any rate for generations to come, we shall not be able to make much use of mechanical power for solving the problem of the ever growing poverty of the masses.`
Visvesvaraya wrote : `You say we hold perhaps diametrically opposite views. You are for developing village industries and I favour both heavy industries and village industries. To the extent that you f-6.TIF (1167634 bytes)propose to advance village industries, I am at once with you. I can never persuade myself to take up a hostile attitude towards any constructive work, from any quarter, least of all towards work attempted by one with your brilliant historic achievements in public life... I am in favour of heavy industries because heavy industries will save the money that is going out of the country in large sums every year; heavy industries are required to provide the local manufactures of machinery and equipment required by our railways and for defence forces and heavy industries are required also for supplying machinery and tools for the village industries themselves. I recommend more extended use of mechanical power because it produces results for the country much more rapidly than human power. The object is to get food and commodities required by our people for a decent standard of living as speedily as possible ...`. Sir Visvesvaraya passed away on April 14, 1962 at the age of 101.