2018: The Opening of a Delhi Metro Station Named after India’s Most Renowned Civil Engineer

August 6, 2018

In northern India, the Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh station on the Delhi Metro’s Pink Lane was officially opened. The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city and union territory of Delhi and also the nearby cities of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, and Ghaziabad in India’s National Capital Region. The Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh metro station is located on Ring Road in the Moti Bagh neighborhood of the Deli district known as South Delhi.

This facility was one of four stations on the Pink Line to be inaugurated on the same date. It was named in memory of somebody regarded as one of India’s most prominent civil engineers. Sir Mokshagundam Visweshwaraiah (1861-1962) made a wide range of major engineering contributions during his longtime career, one that spanned both British rule of the Indian subcontinent and India’s present-day existence as an independent republic. (It is worth noting that many people maintain that the correct spelling of his last name in English is actually Visvesvaraya.)

Vishweshwaraiah’s key accomplishments included overseeing construction of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India; and developing flood protection infrastructure for the city of Hyderabad in the state of Telangana in south-central India. Vishweshwaraiah acquired the honorific prefix “Sir” in his name when he was awarded a British knighthood by King George V (1865-1936). Vishweshwaraiah has been hailed as the Father of Engineers in India. His birthday, September 15, is celebrated in his native country every year as Engineer’s Day. (The accompanying photo of him was taken sometime around 1890.)

The announcement that there would be a Delhi Metro station named after Vishweshwaraiah was received favorably by the general public. This was highlighted by the News Minute, a digital platform reporting on current events in India, three weeks before this station’s debut. “It is seen as a fitting tribute to Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah, one of the nation’s foremost builders,” noted the News Minute at that time.

The Pink Line, with a total length of 36.8 miles (59.2 kilometers), is the longest of the Delhi Metro’s nine lines. There are 38 stations serving the Pink Line; 26 of these (including the Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh station) are elevated, while the other 12 are underground.

Photo Credit: Public Domain For more information on the Delhi Metro’s Pink Line, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Line_(Delhi_Metro)