Arthur Cotton
Sir Arthur Cotton General | |
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Battles/wars | First Anglo-Burmese War |
Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout
He was the father of the evangelist
Biography
Arthur Cotton was born on 15 May 1803 at
He started his career with the
Cotton conducted a marine survey of the
Cotton recalled how, from analysing the Kallanai Dam and its foundations, his group learned how to construct foundations in a sandbed. In 1844, Cotton recommended the construction of an "anicut" (a dam made in a stream for maintaining and regulating irrigation)[3] and prepared plans for Visakhapatnam port. In 1847, the work on the Godavari anicut was started.
In 1848 he proceeded to Australia due to ill health and handed over the charge to Captain Orr. In 1850 he returned to India and was promoted to the rank of colonel. He succeeded in completing the magnificent project on the Godavari river at Rajahmundry in 1852. After completing the Godavari anicut Cotton shifted his attention to the construction of the aqueduct on Krishna River. The project was sanctioned in 1851 and completed by 1855. After completing the Krishna and Godavari anicuts, Cotton envisaged the storage of the Krishna and Godavari river waters.
In 1858, Cotton came up with even more ambitious proposals such as connecting all major rivers of India, and interlinking of canals and rivers. He suggested drought-relief measures for Odisha. Arthur Cotton retired from service in 1860 and left India. He was knighted in 1861. He visited India in 1862 and 1863 and offered advice on some river valley projects.
His work in India was much appreciated and he was honoured with KCSI (
Cotton died on 24 July 1899.
Assessment
Cotton was hated by his administrative superiors—thanks to his empathy for the people of India.[4] At one point, impeachment proceedings were initiated by his superiors for his dismissal.[5]
Going through the famine and cyclone-ravaged districts of Godavari, Cotton was distressed by the sight of famished people of the Godavari districts.[6] It was then that he put in process his ambitious plans to harness the waters of the Godavari river for the betterment of the community.
John Henry Morris in Godavari[7] writes about the work of Cotton:
The Godavari anicut is, perhaps, the noblest feat of engineering skill which has yet been accomplished in British India. It is a gigantic barrier thrown across the river from island to island, in order to arrest the unprofitable progress of its waters to the sea, and to spread them over the surface of the country on either side, thus irrigating copiously land which has hitherto been dependent on tanks or on the fitful supply of water from the river. Large tracts of land, which had hitherto been left arid and desolate and waste, were thus reached and fertilised by innumerable streams and channels.
In 1878, Cotton had to appear before a
According to Gautam Pingle, an Indian policymaker, the idea of interlinking of rivers in India to form a national water grid, an idea which had gained much attention from the Indian government and policy-makers at the turn of the 21st century, was in fact an idea that is more than 120 years old as it was first envisioned by Arthur Cotton.[10]
Legacy in India
In recognition of Cotton's contributions, a new barrage constructed across the Godavari river, upstream of the anicut, was named after him, and dedicated to the nation by the
During the Godavari Maha Pushkaram festival of 2015, homages were paid to Arthur Cotton, with Nimmala Rama Naidu, the MLA of Pallakollu, offering pinda as per Hindu ancestral rites.[12]
A statue of Arthur Cotton has been installed on
Major works as an engineer
- The GodavariCanal System
- The Ganges Canal
- Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage
See also
- List of dams and reservoirs in India
- Charles Phillip Brown, another westerner who is respected by Telugu people, an administrator and patron of Telugu
- Sir Sydney John Cotton(1792–1874), elder brother
- Rev. Richard Lynch Cotton (1794–1880), elder brother
- Dr. K.L. Rao
- Dr. K. Sriramakrishnaiah
References
- ^ Hope, Elizabeth; Digby, William (1900). General Sir Arthur Cotton his life and work. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 4.
- ISBN 978-1-4738-1532-2.
- ^ Anicut | Definition of Anicut by Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved on 30 March 2017.
- ^ Please refer to Gautam Desiraju's letter to Current Science
- ^ Gautam Desiraju op. cit.
- ^ The District of Godavari: Before and After Arthur Cotton worked his Magical Change "General Sir Arthur Cotton : His Life and Work/Lady Hope". Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2006. p.77
- ^ Descriptive and Historical Account of Godavari District in Madras Presidency "New Arrivals". Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2006. page 109
- ^ S. Gurumurthi in the Business Line [1] Godavari: Still a sleeping beauty
- ^ Gurumurthi op. cit.
- ^ a b Reddy, Ch. Prashanth (16 July 2003). "National water grid – A hundred-year-old plan". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "యలమంచిలి రేవులో కాటన్ దొరకు పిండప్రదానం." www.andhrajyothy.com (in Telugu). 19 July 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
Further reading
- Hope, Elizabeth, Lady (1900). General Sir Arthur Cotton: his life and work. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Ch. Prashant Reddy in the Business Line (16 July 2003). "National water grid: A hundred-year-old plan" (Business Line). Archived from the original on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
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(help) - S. Gurumurthi in the Business Line (14 October 2002). "Godavari: Still a sleeping beauty" (Business Line).
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(help) - Avilash Roul (14 March 2006). "India's water future: are interbasin water transfers a solution?". Eco-World. Archived from the original on 19 October 2006.
- Gautam R. Desiraju (10 August 2003). "Sir Arthur Cotton - Correspondence with Current Science" (PDF). 85 (3).
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(help) - Hots, Susan. (2008). "Cotton, General Sir Arthur Thomas." in Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 2: 1830–1890. pp. 195–199.ISBN 9780727735041.
- Vibart, H.M. (1894). Addiscombe: its heroes and men of note. Westminster: Archibald Constable. pp. 343–51.
External links
- Works by or about Arthur Cotton at Internet Archive
- Works by Arthur Cotton at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- RootsWeb page on Sir Arthur Cotton
- Marble bust of Sir Arthur Cotton
- General Sir Arthur Cotton R.E. K.C.S.I. – His Life and Work by his daughter (Lady Hope)
- The Study of Living Languages by Sir Arthur Cotton
- Public Works in India by Sir Arthur Cotton
- Arabic Primer by Sir Arthur Cotton
- Arabic Primer (audiobook) by Sir Arthur Cotton at LibriVox