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| Sir. Arthur Cotton built Dowleswaram barrage, Andhra.en.wikipedia.org |
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| Arthur Cotton.Dowleswaram Barrage,AP, dreamvacationsindia.wordpress.com |
During the colonial rule under the British East India company till 1857 from the middle of the 18th century and later - after 1858 by the direct British Crown, administration, London, the exploitation of Indian resources and the oppressive rule of the sub continent continued unabated. To the British rulers, India was a milk cow, generating vast revenue for the British treasury. The English Army and later the Police force struck terror among the natives However, there were scores of British - both officials and non officials who were very much despaired by the unjust British rule and were very much sympathetic toward the natives.
There were many British engineers and administrators who worked hard to save the bad image of the British rulers and tried to repair their lapses. So were scholars who exposed to the world the intellectual contributions of the Indians in various fields and their advanced languages and philosophical writings. As for the British Media and reporters, there were some dedicated professionals who brought to light the despicable way with which the British took over the kingdoms ruled by the Maharajahs and Nawabs and paid least attention to the grievances of the ordinary people at times of natural calamity like cyclones, floods, famine, etc.
Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton KCSI (May 18032 -July 1899), son of Henry Calvely Cotton was a British general and irrigation engineer. Born on 15 May 1803, aged 15, he became a cadet at the East India Company's military seminary at Addiscombe, Surrey. In December 1819, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Madras Engineer Group and and fought in the First Burmese War and was knighted in 1861.
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| Dowleswaram/Godaveri barrage, Andhra en.wikipedia.org |
The bridge across the river Godaveri. An elevated road going over the bridge to join it
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| Dowleswaram Barrage near Rajahmundry on River Godavari, Andhra. en.wikipedia.org/wik |
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| .Dowleswaram Barrage or Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage alamy.com |
Arthur Cotton, the first engineer to have conducted a marine survey of the Pamban passage between India and Ceylon where the famous Pampan railway drawbridge stands now near Rameswaram,TN was an innovative engineer. In the Kallanai - Grand Anaicut near Tiruchirappalli city, TN built by great Chola king Karikala Cholan - 2nd century (the oldest water-diversion or water-regulatory structure in the world), excess silting posed a main problem. Cotton came up with some suggestions to fix it to increase the flow of water and storage capacity. In praise of Chola king's ingenious invention, Cotton had built the Upper Dam (Upper anicut) across the Cauvery in Mukkombu near Tiruchirapalli city, Tamil Nadu. The Krishna and Godavari dam projects in the present day Andhra were built based on the models of Kallanai and and the upper dam across the Cauvery. river to irrigate vast lands down stream.
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| Grand Anaicu (Kallanai), TN (2nd C)deccanchronicle.com Above image: Locally called Kallanai, the Grand Anicut (dam) was built across the Cauvery River in the 2nd century by Chola king, Karikalan. This massive structure was later reinforced by the British under engineer Arthur Cotton. Grand Anicut is believed to be one of the oldest water-diversion structures in the world that continues to be functional It is Thanjavur dist., and close to Tiruchy city........................................... |
The work on the Godavari Anicut / barrage (15 feet high and 3.5 km long.) was completed in 5 years in 1852. The Aqueduct on the Krishna River was completed by 1855. In 1840s' itself he had prepared plans for Visakhapatnam port based on the location, geography and depth of the bay in that region. In 1858, he had an ambitious plan to interlink all rivers and canals in the state of Odisa as part of drought relief measures.
Having retired from services in 1860, He was knighted in 1861 after retirement in 1860 and settled in England. On his later visits to India, he advised the officials on some irrigation,river-vallet projects beneficial to the Indians. He is still a much revered figure in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for his contribution to irrigation in the delta regions and other areas.
A new barrage (opened by PM Indira Gandhi in 1982) across the Godavari upstream side of the Anicut was named after Sir Arthur Cotton to honor him for his vast contribution.
Tit-Bits:
Being gentle, humane and a true Christian in spirit never had he failed to attend services of the Church of the Godavari Delta Mission at Rajahmundry city. He earned the ire of the jealous British officials as his Godavari project to mitigate the ravages of flooding in a dry area and to irrigate the vast land faced roadblocks. Officials were concerned about the cost not about the welfare. Cotton finally appeared before the House of Commons Committee to justify his proposal to build an anicut/ barrage across the big river with technical details and finally returned to India after the approval from the Crown. .
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| The tomb of Gen. Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton KCSI en.wikipedia.org |
Sir Arthur Cotton's name will be remembered by every Indian till the world comes to an end. People of India loved him so much the Pindaparadhanam (pinda) was offered as homage as per the Hindu tradition to Arthur Cotton during 2015 Godavari Maha Pushkaram by Palakollu MLA Nimmala Ramanaidu. (Revised Post) https://www.navrangindia.in/2015/05/sir-arthur-cotton-humane-british.html
Hope, Elizabeth; Digby, William (2005). General Sir Arthur Cotton his life and work. New Delhi: Asian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Cotton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Cotton Educational Services. p. 4. ISBN 81-206-1829-7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Cotton Educational Services. p. 4. ISBN 81-206-1829-7
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