Engineer's Day 2020: India pays tribute to Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

Sep 15,2020

India marks Engineer's Day every year on September 15 which is the birth anniversary of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, one of India's greatest engineers and Bharat Ratna awardee. Popularly called 'Sir MV' has given immense contribution to India's early infrastructure development, education and social welfare. 

He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1955 for his immense contribution towards the development of India.

Born in 1861 M Visvesvaraya was had contributed to several technical projects in Hyderabad, Mysore, Maharashtra and Odisha. His his first job was as an assistant engineer in the Public Works Department of the Government of Bombay.

Some of his major contributions include -  the block system of irrigation in the Deccan canals in 1899, irrigation system with water floodgates at the Khadakvasla reservoir, the irrigation system was later installed at Gwalior’s Tigra Dam and Mysuru’s Krishnaraja Sagara (KRS) dam.

Several leaders paid tribute to Sir M Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Railways and Industry minister Piyush Goyal, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Taking to Twitter, Amit Shah wrote, ''Tributes to prolific engineer & statesman, Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya on his jayanti. On #EngineersDay, I salute our talented & skilled engineers who have contributed significantly in the development of nation. India is proud of their pioneering works all across the world.''

Piyush Goyal paid his tribute to the prolific engineer by saying, ''Tributes to Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary. An exemplary engineer and a great nation builder, he also played a crucial role in expanding Railway lines in parts of Southern India. Best wishes to all engineers on #EngineersDay.''