Abinash Chandra Chaturvedi

 ABINASH CHANDRA CHATURVEDI 

High integrity, hard work and total dedication to public service are the prime essentials for the engineers on the rolls of any State. These not only contribute to optimum utilisation of the tax payer’s money but also serve as a role model for the junior colleagues. A continuous effort to upgrade the knowledge base helps in attainment of professional excellence. It is conducive to community upliftment too. Engineer (Dr.) Abinash Chandra Chaturvedi’s (in short Abinash) career and contribution to continuing technical education stands out as a shining example for technocrats in India.

Early Life
Born at Agra on 10 August, 1923, Abinash had his early education at Lucknow.He spent his childhood at his family house at Ganeshganj and was eight years old when his grand father Chaubey Mukta Prasad shifted the joint family to the newly built mansion named ‘Lok Niwas’ in Charbagh area of the city. Right from childhood, he participated in the freedom struggle by attending public meetings where eminent leaders exhorted the citizens to join in protest. He took part in ‘prabhat pheries’ singing patriotic songs and shouting slogans. He was greatly inspired by Chaubey Mukta Prasad (his grand father) and Nirmal Chandra Chaturvedi (his father). They were both Congress leaders who were active in social service. They taught him the qualities of patriotism, public service and sacrifice.

Education
Abinash was admitted to the DAV High School from where he passed out the High School examination with distinction in 1937. He then joined Queens College to complete his intermediate classes. He was a hard working student. Studious by nature he earned the respect of his teachers by his academic brilliance. He also enrolled for classes in Hindi and successfully cleared examinations held by Uttar Pradesh Sahitya Sammelan. Another activity that attracted him was Arya Samaj movement. He read with interest all their literature, specially writings on Swami Dayanand. He went to Lucknow University and completed a course in B.Sc (Hons.) in 1941. While studying for M.Sc (Maths) he was selected for engineering at the Thomson College of Civil Engineering, Roorkee. He took keen interest in University Cadet Corps (UTC) activities. A very popular student amongst the faculty and his batch mates, Abinash was nick named ‘Major’.He passed out from the college in 1945.Some of his distinguished batchmates included DC Chaturvedi, AN Harkauli, Mahesh Chaturvedi, DN Kala, RN Mehrish and Hans Kumar etc.

Service in Irrigation Department
Abinash started his career in the Irrigation Department of the United Provinces (later renamed as Uttar Pradesh). Appointed as an apprentice engineer on a salary of Rs. 100/- in the District of Rai Bareilly he worked hard to gain in-depth knowledge of various facets of water resources management to include canals, dams and tube wells etc.

Service in Rai Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Chandausi, Faizabad and Sitapur Districts for over two decades was to equip him with invaluable experience to provide irrigation, undertake design and planning, gain confidence of cultivators and efficient organisation of manpower resources. He ably executed developmental schemes to achieve significant increase in the irrigation coverage in the State.

A tenure as Executive Engineer at Sarda Canal Division in Sitapur saw him plunging headlong to combat breaches in the canal that were frequently witnessed during heavy monsoons. Further, it brought to surface his humanitarian approach to help the cultivators who used to approach him to mitigate their problems at lack of water for irrigation.

While posted at Mathura, his hard work and imaginative use of engineering resources was officially recognised. He was publicly felicitated by Chaudhary Charan Singh, the then Chief Minister, for flood protection of Govardhan Drain that was threatening to deluge large areas of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. He came to be widely appreciated for his engineering brilliance, bold initiatives, exemplary loyalty to his superiors and tireless hard work. He was highly respected for his integrity and unflinching honesty.

Service under a some of the experienced and senior engineers like Kunwar Balbir Singh, G.K. Aggarwal, B.K. Khattri, A.C. Mittra, J.P. Jain, U.L. Chaturvedi, N.C. Saksena, B.P. Sharma, O.D. Sharma, R.D. Jhanjhi, P.S. Yog, Krishna Murari, Hari Mohan and Brij Raj Bahadur etc. gained valuable aspects of irrigation. He impressed them all with his capacity for hard work and dynamism.

Irrigation Commission
Irrigation Commission was set up by the UP Government during early seventies under the Chairmanship of Chaturbhuj Sharma, a senior leader and former Minister. Impressed with the dynamism and sincerity of Abinash, the Chairman left the entire work in his hands who had been posted as the Secretary of the Commission. For next six years (between 1972-78) Abinash was to analyse the district wise needs and potential of water resources required to meet the demands for agriculture, forestry and hydropower generation. The final report running in six volumes and 5500 pages was solely and entirely compiled by him. It was a comprehensive catalogue of a water resources management road map for the then undivided State of Uttar Pradesh.

Abinash was then moved to Dehradun to head the Hill Circle. He set about his agenda of expanding the irrigation facilities in the vast areas of Kumaon and Garhwal hills. Working at breakneck speed and travelling for hours with his leg cast in plaster he started and executed diverse schemes specially suited for hills.

Minor Irrigation
Selected to head the Minor Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh as its Chief Engineer Abinash set up formulating his objectives and priorities with foresight and meticulous care. He then worked on a war footing to increase the irrigation facilities. His focus was on provision of water to remote and inaccessible areas in the hills and southern parts of the State. He was unorthodox and known to take speedy decisions. Rather than issue follow up orders on return to his Headquarters on the completion of a field visit, he preferred to issue instructions on the site. He used to record the gist on the measurement book of the executing staff. He took particular care for creation of more posts and promotion avenues for his junior colleagues. Another area of his interest was the training college which he regularly visited to present new concepts and case studies to his departmental officers.

Professional Development Institutions
First to introduce the notion of continuing technical education in India, Abinash delved into a wide variety of disciplines to cater for diverse areas of interest for engineers. He took active part in the Institution of Engineers (India). He chose to make his contribution in the shape of suggestion for books to be procured for the library, enrollment of new members and supervising the examinations. He tried to attend all lectures and seminars organised by the Institution. Where feasible he presented his papers and also offered his comments. He was elected the Secretary, later a member of the Executive Committee and then the Chairman of the Institution. Another professional body to which he was closely connected was the Institution of Valuers.He was also an examiner for the Board of Technical Education,Uttar Pradesh.

He firmly believed in decentralization of professional bodies to prosecute their activities and to expand their reach. He himself took up membership of dozens of institutions to keep pace with advancement in different disciplines. A large portion of his meager salary was spent in seeking foreign exchange to remit subscription of journals from abroad. He spearheaded the setting up of seven local centres of the Institution of Engineers and Institution of Valuers in Uttar Pradesh. His committed approach and active sponsorships sought by him resulted in inauguration of a centre each of the Institution of Valuers at Jodhpur and in Port Blair (Andaman Nicobar Islands).

Abinash was a member of the Board of Editors of Hindi Section of the Journal of Institution of Engineers (1ndia). Advising his friends and colleagues to present actual case studies was the strategy adopted by him to encourage writers on technical subjects. Over 700 articles contributed by him on diverse topics were published in various journals and seminar proceedings including 78 papers in 24 countries worldwide.1

Abinash never agreed for compilation of his papers to be brought out in the form of a book. When one of his friends requested him repeatedly, Abinash explained the reason for his refusal. A thick register containing the reprints of his published articles and papers was borrowed by a Governor of the State during a meeting. The Governor wanted to go through them and prepare his notes for his advice to the government for suitable follow up. The register was never returned by the Raj Bhavan.

Abinash was felicitated for his wide contribution to the engineering profession at a function held on 21 August 2004. The function was jointly hosted by Delhi State Centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) and Institution of Valuers, Delhi Branch. The event was also organised as a seminar on Unit Area Method of Property Tax where Abinash delivered the keynote address.2

Author
He had brought out a 500 page biography of his father Mr. Nirmal Chandra Chaturvedi. A notable feature of the book was a researched resume of the Maha Sabha deliberations and excerpts from the articles published in “Chaturvedi”, the monthly magazine of the community.

A book review by him of Gujarati author Dinkar Joshi’s novel titled “Shyam Ek Bar Phir Tum Mil Jate” was a fine prose written in a descriptive style. Similarly “Sakshat Prashnavali ke Uttar” on page 61 of the same magazine appears as a pragmatic and forthright option to a few contemporary challenges to community living.

Community Service
He personally financed higher education of many students. Deeply committed to the concepts of self development, community service and empowerment of the marginalised, Abinash took active part in the activities of Chaturvedi Mandal, Lucknow, Hindu Education Society and Indian Institute of Public Administration (UP Centre). Taking the responsibility to manage Motilal Nehru Memorial Homoeopathic Hospital, Lucknow, he virtually transformed its ordinary clinic into an efficient centre for medical care.

Personality
Known for his humility, generosity and simple habits, Abinash was a voracious reader. He had very few personal demands. He made it a point to attend to all his correspondence promptly. All letters received by him were responded by the return mail. He was conscious of a need to conserve natural resources and energy. He believed in saving fuel and electricity. He was extremely respectful to the elders. He mingled freely with all, irrespective of their age. He had a deep interest in literature, specially prose, as well as technical articles and research work. He would browse through biographies and travelogue with great delight. The librarians at the Acharya Narendra Dev library and that of Command Headquarters treated him with utmost courtesy and respect having noted his love for books.

He died at Lucknow on 1st January, 2006 after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife Pramilla, four sons and a daughter.

Contribution
Abinash’s foremost contribution was in creating a culture for scholarly and systematic innovation in engineering education and carry it forward as a continuous challenge.He also demonstrated a way to adhere to austerity in utilisation of public funds and desirability of timebound completion of projects.

Chairman

 * 1) Institution of Engineers (I), UP Centre.
 * 2) Institution of Valuers UP.
 * 3) Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Group of the Institution of Engineers.

Vice Chairman/Vice President

 * 1) Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, UP.
 * 2) Institution of Public Health Engineers.
 * 3) Nomination Committee of Computer Society of India.
 * 4) Society for Himalayan Environmental Protection and People’s Action.

Member

 * 1) American Society of Civil Engineers.
 * 2) American Concrete Institute.
 * 3) Appraisal Institute, USA.
 * 4) International Association of Water Laws, USA.
 * 5) International Association of Hydraulic Research, Holland.
 * 6) Indian nstitute of Public Administration.
 * 7) Arbitration Council of India.
 * 8) Indian Association of Water Pollution Control.
 * 9) Material Handling Council of India.

Panel of Experts

 * 1) State Public Service Commission, UP.
 * 2) Banking Service Recruitment Board.

Awards

 * 1) Brij Mohan Lal and Musaddi Lal prizes of the Institution of Engineers (India).
 * 2) Silver Medal by the Institution of Valuers (India).
 * 3) Felicitated by President Mr. V.V. Giri and Union Minister Dr. K.L. Rao for yearly completion of multi purpose Ramganga

Project

 * 1) Recommended for Distinguished Engineers Award of the Biographical Union of UK & USA.

Members of Educational Institutions

 * 1) Syndicate of the Roorkee University (now IIT Roorkee) and its various Committees.
 * 2) Board of Governors Madan Mohan Malviya Engineering College, Gorakhpur and Motilal Nehru Engineering College, Allahabad.
 * 3) Lucknow Polytechnic where he served in various capacities including its Chairman.
 * 4) Motilal Nehru Bal Vidyalaya Inter College, Lucknow as its Honorary Technical Adviser.

Chief Editor

 * 1) UP Journal of the Institution of Valuers (1).

Reference
*1 Ground Water Resource Development in India, IAHS Publication No. 136.

*2 UP Blue Print for Municipal Taxation by Dr. A.C. Chaturvedi, publishedas part of the seminar document on ‘Unit Area Method of Property Tax’held in New Delhi on 21 August 2004 at the Institution of Engineers (India), Delhi State Centre.