Mokkshagundam Visweswaraya- A Legendary Civil Engineer

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, commonly known as Sir MV is an Indian Civil Engineer & Statesman. He is an inspiration to many & his birthday 15th September is celebrated as “Engineer’s Day in India. He was a man of high principles, discipline & engineer par excellence.

Sir MV did his graduation in Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Madras in 1881 and received Licentiate in Civil Engineering from prestigious College of Science in Pune in 1884. During his career, he played a very important role in the development of South India especially Mysore & Bangalore. After graduation, Sir MV joined as an Assistant Engineer in Public Works Department, Bombay, 1885. Later, at the Indian Irrigation Commission he helped to implement a complex system of irrigation in the Deccan area. He designed and carried out the waterworks for the Municipality of Sukkur in 1895. He served as Chief Consulting Engineer in Hyderabad & also served as 19thDiwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1917. He is known as Father of Modern Mysore for his outstanding contribution to the development of Mysore. He was appointed as the Chief Engineer of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in north- west suburb of Mysuru city.

Sir MV also contributed for the design & development of the entire area of Jayanagar in South Bangalore in 1959. It was one of the first planned neighborhoods in Bangalore and one of the best planned cities at the time, the largest in Asia. He also worked as Board of Director for Tata Steel & retired from it in 1955.

Awards & Recognitions:
• Sir MV received India’s highest honour the Bharata Ratna in 1955.
• He was awarded the British knighthood by King George V, and hence has the title “Sir”.
• He was awarded an honorary membership of London Institute of Civil Engineers, a fellowship from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) and was also revered with many honorary degrees including D.SC., LL.D.,D.Litt. from eight universities in India.
• For 1923 session of the Indian Science Congress, Sir MV served as the president.
• An Indian Postage stamp was released on his 100th birthday in 1960.
• He designed and constructed automatic gates patented by him at Lake Fife Storage Reservoir; introduced new system of irrigation known as “Block System”, 1903

Quotes of Sir M V:
1) “No person can shape the life of another. Your success & happiness depends on your own self. Think of yourself and have a plan of life.”
2) “To give a real service you must add something that cannot be bought or measured with money.”
3) “Every man who has become great owes his achievement to incessant toil.”