Why in news?  Engineers’ Day is observed annually on September 15 in India, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania.

Highlights:

About Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

• He was born on 15 September 1861 in Muddenahalli
• He was an Indian civil engineer, administrator, and statesman, served as the 19th Dewan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918.
• As a dewan he was preceded by T. Ananda Rao and succeeded by M. Kantaraj Urs
• Sir MV is also often regarded as “the maker of modern Mysore”.
• Awarded Bharath Ratna in 1955 for his outstanding contributions in the field of engineering science.

Contribution

• The design of automatic weir water floodgates, allowed for an increase in the storage capacity of the Khadakwasla Reservoir near Pune.
• He also projected an extensive irrigation system in the Deccan Plateau.
• Visvesvaraya is credited as the architect of the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam in Mysuru, and his gate design was successfully implemented at this dam as well.
• He designed a flood protection system for the Visakhapatnam port.
• As Diwan of Mysore, he contributed to the development of armoured, bullet-proof vehicles for World War II during his tenure as a board member of Tata Steels.

To Karnataka

• He was the Chief Engineer of the KRS Dam at Mysore.
• Visvesvaraya was responsible for Mysore Soap Factory, Parasitoid Laboratory, Mysore Iron & Steel Works in Bhadravathi, Bangalore Polytechnic (now Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Bangalore), Bangalore Agricultural University and State Bank of Mysore,
• Century Club, Mysore Chamber of Commerce (now Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry), Mysore Apex Chamber of Commerce (now Apex Chamber of Karnataka), and numerous other industrial places are his contribution
• The Bangalore Press was also established during his tenure as Dewan.
• He was also instrumental in the founding of Government Engineering College (now University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering) at Bangalore in 1917, one of the first engineering institutes in India.
• He commissioned several new railway lines in Mysore Railways (now part of Southwestern Indian Railways).