Mon Sep 15 02:40:00 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:
**Hyderabad Celebrates Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya’s Birth Anniversary: Remembering the Engineer Who Saved the City from Floods**
**Hyderabad, India** – Today marks the birth anniversary of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, a pioneering Indian engineer whose contributions profoundly shaped Hyderabad. Visvesvaraya is celebrated for designing the twin reservoirs, Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, which protect the city from devastating floods like the one in 1908 that claimed thousands of lives and left countless homeless.
Born on September 15, 1861, in Karnataka, Visvesvaraya overcame financial hardships through tutoring and scholarships to earn an engineering degree. He rose to prominence for his innovative engineering solutions, most notably his design for automatic floodgates for dams – a technology still in use today.
After the devastating 1908 floods, the then-Nizam of Hyderabad invited Visvesvaraya to address the city’s vulnerability. Visvesvaraya proposed constructing two reservoirs on the Musi and Esi rivers to control the flow of water. Osman Sagar was completed in 1920, and Himayat Sagar followed in 1927, providing both flood control and a vital source of drinking water for the twin cities.
Beyond the reservoirs, Visvesvaraya also developed a comprehensive underground drainage system for Hyderabad, parts of which still function effectively in the older sections of the city. In a report to the city’s rulers in 1930, he stressed that the city needed clean houses, flush toilets, dust-free roads, footpaths and gardens. He envisioned Hyderabad as a model city, emphasizing sanitation and urban planning.
Visvesvaraya’s legacy continues to inspire engineers and urban planners. His foresight and dedication not only saved Hyderabad from future disasters but also laid the groundwork for its modern development. Today, as Hyderabad celebrates his birth anniversary, the city remembers the engineer who transformed its destiny.
First Piper 