THE MAN BEHIND MULLAIPERIYAR DAM

THE DAM THAT PENNYCUICK BUILT

The Mullaiperiyar dam has hogged the headlines thanks to the controversy surrounding it. This article is a brief profile of Col.J.Pennycuick, the man behind its construction and one who has been deified in the villages that have benefited from his engineering marvel.

Col.J.Pennycuick was born on 15th of January 1841 to Brigadier General John Pennycuick and Sarah Pennycuick. He was one of five sons and six daughters. The father, who had entered the army in 1807, was killed in action in 1849 in the Battle of Chillianwala, during the Second Anglo Sikh war.

Col.J.Pennycuick was educated at the Cheltenham College. He later joined the Addiscombe Military College where he underwent the examination for Her Majesty’s Indian Forces in 1858. He was one amongst six cadets who qualified for the Royal Engineers and joined as Lieutenant.

There seems to be little documentation available on how his military career developed. But what is known is that he commanded the H Company of the II Madras Sappers, which was employed in the public works at Zoulla during the Abyssinian campaign in 1868. The official correspondence mentions that Pennycuick “appears to have conducted the duties of his position in an efficient manner”. In recognition of his services at Abyssinia, he was awarded a medal. A promotion to the rank of Second Captain followed in 1870. He married Grace Georgiana Chamier in 1879 and the couple had five daughters and a son. The son, also named John Pennycuick, went on to become a Vice Chancellor of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales in the 1960s.

It was Pennycuick’s stint with the Public Works Department and his involvement in the Periyar Irrigation Project that was to be his most defining contribution to the Madras Presidency. He held a number of positions in the department such as Superintending Engineer in October 1881, Deputy Chief Engineer and Under Secretary to the Government in January 1883 and Superintendent of Works, Tank Maintenance Scheme in April 1884.

The idea for the damming of the Periyar river was first suggested in 1798 by Muttu Arula Pillai, the Prime Minister of the Raja of Ramnad. Though the idea was found to be viable, it was dropped due to lack of funds. In 1808, Sir James Caldwell, the District Engineer reported that the scheme was impracticable. The idea was revived periodically and in 1867, Major Ryves of the Royal Engineers brought forward the idea in a practical form. He proposed the construction of “an earthen dam 162 feet high across the Periyar river and turn back the water down, cutting through the watershed”. The estimated cost came to Rs.17.5 Lakhs. The idea came up for consideration before Pennycuick, who investigated the matter and drew up a complete project plan at Rs.54 Lakhs. His proposal involved important modifications to Ryve’s proposals, amongst them being transfer of the site of the dam to a point seven miles lower down. There were however doubts as to the practicability of constructing such a huge an embankment of earth and it was not until 1882 that his proposal to construct a masonry dam was accepted. He was directed to revise the plans and the estimates for the entire project. The estimate of the direct charges came to Rs.62 lakhs. The Chief Engineer for Irrigation noted as under:
“When the Periyar dam is finished the entire aspect of the surrounding country will be changed, the beautiful and richly wooded valley drained by the Periyar and its larger tributaries being converted into a vast lake that will wind in and out of the hills, its sinuous length extending, according to Colonel Pennycuick's computation, 16 miles inland. The lake will be one of the most beautiful in the world, for it will rest among magnificent forest-clad mountains and rolling grassy uplands, having a rich growth of bamboos and other tropical vegetation down to its edge. Two little steamers or steam-launches are to ply on it, and will no doubt make the lake a popular resort among idlers and sportsmen”.

The conversion of the promise into reality was however to be a tough task. Immense difficulties arose thanks to the fact that the site of the works was a jungle 3000 feet in elevation, where rain and malaria rendered works impossible for a considerable portion of the year. The Madura Gazetteer noted that the discharge was equal to half the average flow of Niagara. The laying of the foundation was full of difficulties and the work was swept away again and again. After one such wash away incident, the Government stopped funding the project as it had doubts about the viability. Legend then has it that Pennycuick, who was so absorbed with the idea returned to England and sold his land and home to raise funds for the construction, which was later reimbursed to him. After the foundation was laid, further difficulty occurred in passing the ordinary flow of the river and the constant high freshes without damage to the masonry of the dam. Pennycuick described the operations as the most anxious, difficult and exhausting of any which had come within his experience. Working with him on the project was A.V.Ramalinga Iyer, who was to later become the first Indian Chief Engineer of the PWD. The entire working of the project was detailed in a book titled “History of the Periyar River Project” written by A.T.Mackenzie, who was one of the engineers on the job.

The project was opened in October 1895 by Lord Wenlock, the then Governor of Madras. It was deemed an engineering marvel. The cost up to the closing of the construction estimate came to Rs.81.30 Lakhs, with expenditure still to be incurred on pending works. Lord Wenlock, in a lecture as a part of the Sunday Afternoon Course at the South Place Institute, Finsbury hailed the project as under:
“I would here point out that nowhere else in the world does there exist such a fall of water so completely under the control of the hand of man, and if any one chooses to utilise it for the purpose of generating power or electricity, a splendid opportunity offers for the investment of capital and development of industries. The minimum quantity of water that will be available for industrial purposes is calculated at 600 cubic feet per second throughout the year, and the power which can be obtained from this head of water will be about 70,000 horse power. You could create sufficient electricity for lighting many of the large towns in South India, including Madras itself, and you could provide motive power to move all the traffic for over 1000 miles of the South India Railway ; and you could also work aluminium or any other product requiring the presence of electricity”.

The success of the project saw more honours for Pennycuick. In 1893, he was made a member of the Madras Legislative Council. He was conferred the C.S.I in 1895. On retiring from the Public Works Department and returning to England, he was appointed the President of the Royal Indian Engineering College at Cooper’s Hill, a post he held from September 1896 to September 1899.

Pennycuick was a man of sport too. He had a vital role to play in the Madras Cricket Club, being appointed as its Secretary in 1865. He was instrumental in moving the club from The Island to Chepauk, a move necessitated due to the construction of the Buckingham Canal. It was also to him that an approval of the plan and an appeal for a grant in aid of Rs.10000 for the construction of a new Club pavilion were submitted in 1890, when he was the Secretary of the Public Works Department. A capable cricketer himself, he bowled Bangalore to a win over Madras in the first “Madras-Bangalore” Test played in 1862. On his retirement, the Club acknowledged his services to the game and its development in the Madras Presidency. He, on his part reciprocated the warm farewell he received by instituting the J.Pennycuick Trophy, a tournament contested even today as an inter collegiate event.

Pennycuick today is deified in the belt he helped transform from an arid land to a fertile area thanks to his engineering marvel. No less than 5 major districts have benefited from this construction, made of lime stone and surkhi. Many villagers have even named their children after Pennycuick. A statue of his stands even today at the PWD office at Madurai. Not only has the project aided irrigation, it has also helped generate hydro electric power, with the water being used by the Periyar Hydro Electric project.

Pennycuick passed away on the 9th of March 1911 in England.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
1. Dictionary of Indian Biography by C.E.Buckland (1906)
2. chamier-family.org
3. Various issues of The London Gazette
2. Mr.C.S.Kuppuraj, Retd. Senior Chief Engineer, PWD.


NOTE: This post is the full text of my article on the subject that has been published in the latest issue of Madras Musings. The article appearing in print has been published with a few minor changes to the format.

NATIVE STREET NAMES OF MADRAS-1

Hi Friends,

Taking off from where I left in my last post, I am now on a mission to try and find out the history behind our native street names..its an enormous exercise and just glancing through the Eicher map of Chennai, I guess it will take me a long time before I am done, considering the number of lanes and by lanes in the city, many of which are intriguingly and exotically named. Not all of them may have an interesting story behind it, but nevertheless, its a small attempt at trying to trace the development of the city through its various characters.

This exercise will throw up further questions regarding the names for which answers would be welcome..

My first post in this series is about Telegraph Abboy Lane in Kondithope..

This street name had intrigued me until today, when I chanced upon who this character could have been..

I found a reference in the London Gazette to a G.Abboy Naidu, who in March 1894 had been declared insolvent. He was employed as an Inspector in the Telegraph Department of the Madras Railways and was a resident of Malayaperumal Street, George Town, which is not very far away from where today the Telegraph Abboy Lane is.

So my surmise is that the Telegraph Abboy Lane is named after this person..a reference is also found to this street as Telegraph Abboy Naidu lane, with the caste being dropped after the G.O cancelling all references to castes in street names.

But did he contribute something major to the locality he was resident of? Or why else was his name given to the street?

Answers welcome..

WHO WAS GUNGA RAMAH?

Hi Friends,

In today's Madras Miscellany piece in The Hindu, Mr.S.Muthiah talks about the resurrection of the Town Temple and points out to the fact that February 2012 marked 250 years of the plan that was first drawn up to resurrect it and relocate it to the current location. The complete piece:

Madras Miscellany: The ‘Town Temple' resurrected

The piece also makes a mention of a Gunga Ramah street,the place where the Committee of Works recommended that the temple be relocated.

Gunga Ramah street is a street that exists even today, as Ganga Raman street.Its a nondescript small lane(much like many others that dot the area), connecting Nainiappa Naicken street and Mint street. The lane follows a peculiar shape, running straight for most of the part, before making a pronounced diagonal bend towards the Nainiappa Naicken street end. At the Mint street end stands Novelty tea shop, a shop that was once renowned for its hot samosas. The lane today has a few old buildings left, mostly private residences.

In what is an interesting coincidence, the Chennakesava Temple is slated for a Kumbabhishekam this year, exactly 250 years after it was first proposed to move it to its current location. The renovation work was on in full swing when I visited this temple in early December.

But pray, who was Gunga Ramah? Was he one of the Dubashes of the East India Company, much like Linghi Chetty, Thambu Chetty, Samudra Mudali and many others who are commemorated by street names in the area? Or was he a famous native merchant whose acts of philanthropy made him legendary?

The etymology behind street names, especially in the old areas of the city would undoubtedly throw up interesting insights into the native history that developed along with the development of the East India Company..

THE MADRAS EXHIBITION 1855

My article on India's first Industrial Exhibition,the Madras Exhibition of 1855 that was published in the latest issue of Madras Musings:

The Madras Exhibition 1855
By Karthik A. Bhatt

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or, simply, The Great Exhibition, was held in London from May to October 1851. It was the first in a series of exhibitions of culture and industry that were to be held all over the world to celebrate modern industrial technology and design. India contributed largely to this Exhibition. Committees organised in all the Presidencies forwarded to London both manufactured goods and raw produce. The jewellery section from India was one of the big draws of the Exhibition.

In July 1854, at a meeting of the Council, the Governor of Madras, Lord Harris, promulgated the setting up of a comprehensive scheme by Government that would aid the improvement of the Province’s agricultural and manufacturing industries. It was resolved that “with the object of encouraging useful productions of all kinds, in agriculture, machinery, manufactures and arts” the Government would take the initiative in such an effort. Thus, the idea of an Exhibition along the lines of the London Exhibition began to take shape.

An Executive Committee and two sub-committees (one for Raw Products and another for Machinery) were set up. The Committee was headed by Lord Harris, with Edward Balfour designated as its Secretary. The sub-committee for Raw Products was headed by W.A. Morehead and the secretarial duties were assigned to Dr. Hugh Cleghorn. W.U. Arbuthnot headed the sub-committee for Machinery. Together, the Executive and the two sub-committees formed the General Committee under Lord Harris.

The first act of the General Committee was to nominate 28 local committees, one for each of the principal districts of the Presidency, as well as for Portuguese Goa and French Pondicherry. Each local committee comprised the principal civil authorities of the district, but also included merchants and medical officers and volunteers interested in such a venture. Rs.1000 was allotted to each of these local committees for it to furnish a consignment of raw materials and manufactured products characteristic of the districts.

It was decided to hold the Exhibition at the Banqueting Hall, which Government placed at the disposal of the Committee. Contributions for the Exhibition began to arrive in the middle of January 1855, just a month before the scheduled inauguration. There were teething troubles, as would be expected for a venture that was the first of its kind in India. Many of the articles to be exhibited did not reach Madras till long after the commencement. Printing of the official catalogues was also delayed, with printing not commencing even a month after the opening.

The opening was a gala affair, with Lord Harris doing the honours on February 20, 1855. A holiday was declared for all Government offices. Many educational institutions and some mercantile firms too declared a holiday to mark the occasion.

The organisation of the Exhibition was on similar lines to that of the London Exhibition of 1851. The articles exhibited were arranged into classes and a jury was nominated for each class. The jury’s task was to critically compare and estimate the relative value of the items shown. Medals of two classes were awarded and a third award was designated as “honourable mention”. In all, the exhibits were divided into 30 classes, such as mineral kingdom, chemical and pharmaceutical products and processes, vegetable and animal substances chiefly used in manufactures as implements and for ornaments and indigo and dyes. The raw materials were displayed in the galleries and the manufactured products were displayed in the main hall.

A major contributor to the manufactured goods was the Madras School of Industrial Arts, founded in 1855 as the amalgamation of the Madras School of Industry and Madras School of Arts, both founded by Dr. Alexander Hunter. Several items of everyday use designed by the School were displayed. Also on display were machines used for cleaning fibres, crushing and grinding metallic ores and colours, grinding grain, etc.

Many native drugs of great importance were also on display. C. Appavoo Pillay, 1st Dresser, from ‘Tinnevelli’, won an honourable mention for his display of Sasaparilla. Two major contributors to the drugs section were Dr. Kirkpatrick, who displayed a collection comprising the indigenous drugs of Mysore, and Mr. Waring, who displayed the indigenous drugs of Travancore.

The Exhibition also featured around 70 works of Linnaeus Tripe, which were views of temples of South India not photographed previously. These were judged to be the “best series of Photographic views on paper.” Tripe was later, in 1857, appointed the Official Photographer to the Government.

Saturdays always attracted better turnouts than other days, one reason being the lower entrance fee for Saturdays. The boys of the Male Asylum and other charitable institutions were charged entry fee of only one anna on Saturdays.

At the close of the Exhibition, private contributors removed such portions of their property as they thought fit. Of the Government property, a part was donated to the India House and the other part auctioned off to defray the expenses of the Exhibition. A large portion of the collection of arms and antiquities was housed in the Madras Museum. The exhibits of drugs were presented to the Museums of the Madras Medical College and the Hyderabad School of Medicine. Examples of all the raw products of the Presidency were sent to the public museums of Kew and Edinburgh and also to the Pharmaceutical Society and other centres in Europe.

The Exhibition was closed on April 28, 1855, having been open for a little over two months. The number of visitors, according to the official record maintained during the event, was 26,563. Thanks to the overwhelming support of the Government, the Exhibition was financially self-sufficient. The expenses came to just under Rs.10,000, which was deemed small considering the amount of good that came out of it. Distant provinces came to be acquainted with each other’s products. The Madras School of Industrial Art received applications seeking models, drawings and plans of machinery, as well as large orders for works of various kinds.

Two men who played vital roles in the organisation of the Exhibition were to go on to contribute in a great way to the field of flora and fauna. They were Edward Balfour, who by then had already set up the Madras Museum and who was to set up the Madras Zoo, and Dr. Hugh Cleghorn, who was appointed the first Chief Conservator of Forests of Madras Presidency. Cleghorn wrote in 1861 the book. The forests and gardens of South India, considered a pioneering work in the field.

That the Government on the conclusion of the Exhibition resolved on the spot to hold another exhibition of the same grand kind in February 1857 spoke of the warm response this novel idea, the first of its kind in India, had received.

AN UNIQUE ADVERTISEMENT

An unique advertisement from a 1915 book, advertising Convocation Gowns!!!

THE STORY OF THE LONG TANK

Before you read today's post further,take a look at the map below (click on it to see a bigger image)

This is a map of Madras in 1909. A closer look at the map would reveal a startling fact, the absence of an area without which Madras that is Chennai today cannot be imagined- T.Nagar.

This post is about the formation of T.Nagar.

The area where today T.Nagar stands was a vast expanse of water called the Long Tank. The earliest reference I could find of the existence of this water body was in the 1770s, though am quite sure it would have been in existence much earlier.The Long Tank was a big enough water body to form the western frontier of the city,also determining the limits of jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Madras Judicature.

The "Sportsman's Book of India", on the subject of the Madras Boat Club has the following mention about the Long Tank:

"The club-house is permanently situated on the river Adyar, about five miles out of the city of Madras ; but during the cold weather, when the principal regatta is held,a large tank, called the " Long Tank," opposite the Cathedral of Madras, fills and gives a stretch of water 3 miles by 2 miles. A temporary boathouse is erected there while the water lasts, and the big regatta is generally held in this tank.The roads leading to the club are shaded by magnificent avenues, the drive being one of the best in Madras".

What a wonderful sight it must have been!!!

(The Cathedral in the above account refers to the St.George's Cathedral, which gives an idea about the expanse of the water body when seen in today's context).

Madras was undergoing a population explosion in the early 1900s and the Government was seriously thinking of expansion to facilitate the increasing housing needs.It hit upon an idea of going on a huge takeover drive, buying out several large parts of land and the huge garden bungalows. A proposal was also mooted to takeover 115 acres of land on Greenways Road,most of which was owned by the P.Venkatachellum family,a family famed for its pickles and condiments business.

An idea was then suggested by V.S.Ranganatham Pillai, the son of a former Dewan of Cochin and the owner of one of the garden bungalows on Greenways road, that the Long Tank could be taken up for development. The Government too thought of it as a good idea and this spelt the death knell for the huge water body.

In one of the earliest instances of draining out a water body for real estate purposes (Chennai was to see a lot more of it especially in the early/mid 2000s, when the real estate boom was at its peak), the Long Tank was drained in 1919 and filled up to create housing facilities.Thus came up Theyagaroya Nagar in 1925,or T.Nagar to call it by its more familiar name. It was named in honour of Sir Pitty Theyagaroya Chetty,one of the founders of the Justice Party and for long the President of the Corporation of Madras.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

1.CHAMPIONING ENTERPRISE (2011): A COFFEE TABLE BOOK COMMEMORATING 175 YEARS OF THE MADRAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, authored by Mr.V.Sriram

INCOME TAX AND MADRAS

2011 marked the end of the year long celebrations commemorating 150 years of Income Tax India. I happened to go through a small pamphlet brought out by the IT department (available on the website), which traced the origins of Income Tax in India and proceeded to trace its progress over the 150 year period. Mentioned rather appropriately in the pamphlet was James Wilson, the man behind the levy of Income Tax.

This post is about a man who played an equally important and interesting part in the introduction of Income Tax in India,Sir Charles Trevelyan, Governor of Madras from 1858-1860, a man who is seldom mentioned in discussions regarding the origins of Income Tax in this country.

Sir Charles Trevelyan, born in 1807 joined the East India Company's Bengal Civil Service as a writer in 1826 and gradually moved up the ranks, becoming Deputy Secretary to the Government in the Political Department and later Secretary to the Sudder Board of Revenue, before returning to England in 1838. During his tenure, he earned a reputation for promoting the cause for education and it was thanks to him that the Government decided in favour of the promulgation of European Literature and Science amongst the Indians.

His experience in Indian conditions meant that he was seen as a perfect choice to replace Lord Harris, who had resigned as Governor of Madras in 1858. Thus, he returned to India in 1858, this time as Governor of Madras.It was around this time that the administration of India was undergoing a change. Soon after the Mutiny of 1857, the Government of India Act, 1858 was passed that placed India under the direct rule of the Queen, thus bringing to an end the East India Company rule.

The Mutiny had left in its wake a tremendous deficit that needed to be overcome. An increase in customs duty was proposed, which led to widespread protests, especially in Bengal and Madras. A need was felt for the presence of a person who would be the panacea for the financial mess the government was finding itself in. Thus came into picture James Wilson, a man known to be of great financial ability. Little would he have imagined then that his brainchild would go on one day to become the country's mainstay of revenue.

James Wilson, in the first ever Budget Speech in India, delivered on 18th of February 1860, proposed to bridge the gap between revenue and increase in public debt through an increase in import duties, a tax on home-grown tobacco, a small and uniform license duty upon traders of every class and the temporary imposition of an income-tax on all incomes above Rs 200 a year, but with a reduction for those not exceeding Rs 500 per annum. Needless to say, these proposals were to meet with considerable opposition.

Sir Charles Trevelyan was quick to raise in protest against the proposed taxes, and Income Tax in particular. He was of the view that it was not proper to impose the burden of the expenses caused due to the Mutiny on a Presidency that was least affected by it. A public meeting was held at the Pachaiyappa's Hall in George Town (then known as Black Town) to garner support against the imposition of Income Tax.Joining hands with Sir Charles Trevelyan in the protest was Sir Henry Nelson of Parry and Co, who was then the Chairman of the Madras Chamber of Commerce. Trevelyan also found fault with the imposition of the tax on people who had no representation in the Legislative Council. Needless to say, this did not go down well with the powers in England and led to the recall of Trevelyan.

The whole episode had an ironical ending. James Wilson did not live to see his efforts bear fruit as he died of dysentery in August 1860, thus leaving a sizable hole to fill in the Finance Department. In one of those ironies of life, the man chosen to replace him was Trevelyan himself, who returned to India in 1862 as the Finance Minister, thus being made in charge of implementing a levy he had so vehemently opposed. And thus came to stay Income Tax, in the face of ongoing protests led by Madras particularly. After an unsteady initial period in the 1870s(when it was abolished in 1873,only to return 5 years later), Income Tax became more or less a permanent feature.

Trevelyan and his tenure in Madras as Governor is remembered even today in the city. It was he who mooted the idea of developing a public space for the city, a green lung that would serve as a place for people to congregate and also provide a mode of recreation. Thus came into being the People's Park right next to where today the Central Station is, on an area of 117 acres. This park would later go on to house famous Madras institutions such as the Zoo (which functioned from there until the 1980s, when it moved to Vandalur)and the magnificent and historic Victoria Public Hall (built in 1887,currently undergoing renovation). Sadly, all today that remains of this huge green space is a garden called the My Ladys Garden, which is functional and can been accessed through Sydenhams Road. A fountain christened the "Trevelyan Fountain" was put up on the grounds of the Victoria Public Hall when it was built, thus commemorating the man who developed the space. This fountain, though dysfunctional can be seen even today, recently having been relocated inside the grounds to facilitate the Metro Rail work. Another place commemorating Trevelyan in the city is a road called the Trevelyan Basin road.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

1. CHAMPIONING ENTERPRISE (2011): A COFFEE TABLE BOOK COMMEMORATING 175 YEARS OF THE MADRAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Authored by Mr.V.Sriram