Eminent Vizagites of Past

 
Sir Arthur Cotton
Sir Arthur Cotton

His name is famous all over India and particularly in Andhra Pradesh for he will be remembered as the man who converted water into wealth. And what better way to commemorate his 202nd birth anniversary, on the 15th of May, than with a small tribute to this great man on Vizag's most popular portal.

He came to India as a mere man but returned to his homeland as one of the greatest benefactors of mankind. He believed that the water resources of the country were 'liquid gold' and the benefit that could be reaped from this precious commodity was endless. His was in India at a time when she was suffering greatly from a shortage of the basic amenities in life and he felt it was criminal on the part of Europeans with their technological superiority not to help out in some way or the other.

His first major success was the building of dam across the Coleroon in 1835 amidst difficult circumstances and a lot of opposition. This brought prosperity to the districts of Tanjore and Trichinapally. The prosperity of Tanjore is largely due to the foresight of this great man.

Sir Arthur had great plans for Rajumundhry but he decided to build a dam in Dowleiswaram because of the proximity of a hill that suited his purpose. The dam consisted of four divisions Dowleiswaram Division, Rail Branch Division, Madduru division and Vijeswaram division. This was in all 900 yards long and 9 feet high. It was a great moment in the life of this great man to achieve this rare feat. The Godavari lost a lot of its fury and was able to generate four-fold revenue through irrigation and Godavari district suddenly jumped from being a poor district to one of the richer ones, second only to Tanjore.

He grew in popularity and was hailed as the founder of the cheapest school of engineering in the world. His project across the Godavari has been hailed as a 'splendid illustration of his power of mind and self-devotion'. He advocated water carriage as the cheapest mode of transport and many construed this to be in opposition to the railway system. He felt that steam navigation from the sea to different places would be the cheapest mode of transport, but made it very clear that he was not opposed to the railway system but was merely highlighting the cost effectiveness of water transport.

 St. Paul's Church
St. Paul's Church
St. John's Church

Sir Arthur Cotton was a devout man and was responsible for the building of St. Paul's Church and St. John's Church in Vizag. He breathed his last on the 14th of July, 1899 and Vizag is proud to be the place his mortal remains rest. He continued all his life to fight for the economic development of India. He saved millions of lives and brought over lakhs of acres of barren land under irrigation. 'His name will be venerated by millions unborn....' and 'his works have already saved thousands of lives and will continue to do so as long as the world lasts'.
St. John's Church

(Excerpts taken from the writings of Prof. A. Prasanna Kumar)

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