Shivappa Gurubasappa Balekundri (

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

:ಶಿವಪ್ಪ ಗುರುಬಸಪ್ಪ ಬಾಳೇಕುಂದ್ರಿ, 5 May 1922, date of death unknown), often referred to as S. G. Balekundri, was an Indian Engineer

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

expert from

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Early life

S.G. Balekundri was born on May 5, 1922, in

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

. Mother Lakshmidevi; Father Gurusiddappa. After completing his primary education in Hubli, Balekundri completed his high school and post-graduate education in Belgaum. Later he got admission to Government COEP, Pune, and graduated in 1944 with first rank.

Career

In 1945, he started his career as an Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department of the then Mumbai State. The Mumbai government sent him to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

for further studies in irrigation. Later he was in charge of the irrigation canals of the Pune division. Later he was in charge of the Ganga Dam, constructed near Nasik, then Dhulia Dam, and so on. After that, when he was working in the planning commission of the central government, Balekundri noticed the injustice being done to Karnataka in the distribution of river water and warned the leaders of Karnataka. Impressed by this, the then Chief Minister of Karnataka, B. D. Jatti invited Balekundri to the state. After returning to the state in 1959, Balekundri took charge of the inter-state river dispute issue and fought ably for Karnataka's legitimate rights, playing an essential role in the Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Krishna irrigation projects and constructions.

After Retirement

After retirement, he served Karnataka in various capacities as Chairman of the Tungabhadra Project Modification Expert Advisory Committee, Bagalkot Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Review Committee, and Control of the Board for Major Irrigation Projects and Chairman of the Member Committee appointed to start a Technical University in Karnataka.

Legacy

He is best remembered today as ''Second Visveswarayya''.Second Visweswarayya
/ref> The

government has honored him by instituting an award for engineering excellence in his name.CM announces an award in Balekundri’s name - Newindpress.com
/ref> A statue was also erected in 2006 at Alamatti in Balekundri's honor, and a road has been named after him in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

capital

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. S.G. Balekundri Institute of Technology, Belgaum, an Engineering college affiliated to

Visvesvaraya Technological University Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), is a collegiate public state university in Belagavi, Karnataka established by the Government of Karnataka. It is one of the largest Technological Universities in India with 26 years of Tradition o ...

Belagavi Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

has been named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balekundri, S. G. 1922 births Year of death missing 20th-century Indian engineers Engineers from Karnataka Kannada people

Early life

Career

After Retirement

Legacy

See also

References