M Vishweshwaraya

A few days back, when we were travelling on the Magadi road, Bangalore, we had a glimpse of this reservoir.

( Picture from the site 'Treks and Travels'. Due credit goes to the photographer. )

The beauty of the reservoir and the temple standing out in the middle left us awestruck. On inquiring with the locals and doing a bit of research we got to know that this was the Tippagodannahalli reservoir formed by the TG Halli dam built on the Arkavathy river. I dug a little deeper into the story and found out that M Vishweshwaraya, the famous engineer of yesteryear, had got this dam built as a source of water to Bangalore in the 1933.

According to a local, there was a village at the site where the reservoir currently lies. When the dam was decided to be built, M Vishweshwaraya requested the people of the village to relocate to nearby locations. A village temple was left untouched. The Arkavathy river was diverted to the reservoir site and the water that gushed into the reservoir site submerged the temple.

The temple is not visible for most part of the year. However, during the summers, when the water levels get low, the temple emerges out and view of the temple in the middle of a huge reservoir and pristine surroundings can only be experienced. For security reasons, entry to the TG Halli reservoir is currently prohibited to the general public.

I have not studied in Karnataka. So I had not heard about M Vishweshwarya. But this work of his, made me curious enough to know more about this famous engineer.

Visvesvaraya was born on 15 September 1861, near Kingdom of Mysore, to a Telugu Brahmin family of Mokshagundam Srinivasa Sastry and Venkatalakshmamma in present day Muddenahalli village, 40 miles from Bangalore, India. Visvesvaraya lost his father at the age of 15. He enrolled for primary school in Chikballapur, and attended high school in Bangalore. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Madras University in 1881 and later studied civil engineering at the Government Science College, Pune; now renamed College of Engineering, Pune. He expired on April 14, 1962 at the age of 101 years.

Some of his engineering ‘Feats and Achievements’ are listed below -

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Sir MV’s first job was as an Assistant Engineer at the Public Works Department under the government of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency. He had a long and eventful career in the field of engineering, during which he also served as the Chief Engineer of the erstwhile State of Mysore.

The use of automatic sluice gates, an engineering innovation applied in many dams across the country, was Sir MV’s idea. These gates were employed to raise the flood supply level of storage in the reservoir to the highest level likely to be attained by a flood without causing any damage to the dam. The gates were first installed in 1903 at the Khadakvasla Reservoir near Pune.

Based on the success of these gates, the same system was installed at the Tigra Dam in Gwalior and the Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) Dam in Mandya/ Mysore,Karnataka.

Visvesvaraya supervised the construction of the KRS Dam in Mysore, across the Cauvery River from concept to inauguration. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia when it was built.

He attained a celebrity status when he designed a flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad. He was instrumental in developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion.

He became the Dewan of the State of Mysore in 1912 and during his tenure; he took immense interest in shaping new developments in education and other fields. During his period of service with the Government of Mysore state, he was responsible for the founding of, (under the Patronage of Mysore Government), the Mysore Soap Factory, the Parasitoide Laboratory, the Mysore Iron & Steel Works (now known as Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited) in Bhadravathi.

He was instrumental in founding the Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Institute, the Bangalore Agricultural University, University Vishweshwaraiah College of Engineering, the State Bank of Mysore, The Century Club, Mysore Chambers of Commerce and numerous other industrial ventures.

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These are just few of his achievements. He was given the Indian Republic's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was knighted as a Commander of the British Indian Empire by King George V for his myriad contributions to the public good.

15th September (his birthdate) is marked as Engineer's Day in India in his memory.

Note : Most information for this post has been taken from wikipedia and Karnataka.com site