The National Institute of Hydrology is located at Roorkee Town in Hardwar District, Uttarakhand state, India. Roorkee, the historic town of Uttarakhand state, is a well known educational & research centre with the Indian Institute of Technology and a number of R & D organisations viz. Central Building Research Institute, Irrigation Research Institute and Army's Bengal Engineering Group.
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROORKEE
The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee formerly known as University of Roorkee, dates back to the Roorkee College which was established in 1847 as the first engineering college in the British Empire. The college was renamed as Thomason College of Civil Engineering in 1854 . It was given the status of a university by an act of U.P. Legislature ( Act No. IX of 1948) in recognition of its past performance its potential and keeping in view the needs of post independence India. On November 25, 1949; Governor H.P. Mody presented the charter converting the college to the first engineering university of independent India. At this time it had three departments: Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and an annual intake of 60 students by an All India Competitive Examination.
Since its establishment the IIT, Roorkee has played a vital role in providing technical manpower and know-how to the country and in pursuit of research. It ranks among the best technological institutions in the world and has been contributed to all sectors of technological development it has been considered a trendsetter in the area of education and research in the field of engineering and technology.
The momentum gained under Dr. Khosla has been maintained ever since. His successors Dr. G. Pandey ( 1961-66) and Dr. M.R. Chopra (1966-71) made it into one of the leading centres of engineering education in India -healthy within and reputed outside. Courses in Telecommunications Metallurgical Chemical and Industrial Engineering were added with continued expansion in facilities and rise in standards.
Today the IIT has nearly 450 highly qualified teaching staff with about 1200 undergraduate students in 10 disciplines of engineering and architecture and about 1800 post-graduate and research scholars spread over 17 departments.
CENTRAL BUILDING RESEARCH INSTITUTE
The Central Building Research Institute Roorkee is a constituent unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research New Delhi. The Institute has been vested with the responsibility of generating cultivating and promoting building science and technology in the service of the country. Since its inception the Institute has been assisting the building construction and building material industries, in finding timely appropriate and economical solutions to the problems of materials rural and urban housing energy conservation efficiency fire hazards, structural and foundation, problems and disaster mitigation.
The Institute has well developed R&D facilities in all the above areas. Also there are Extension Centres at Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram for transfer of technology as well as for providing feedback from industries. It provides various types of testing facilities for building materials and components based on IS, BS and ASTM Standards.
U.P. IRRIGATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Irrigation Department in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India is responsible to plan, construct and maintain hydro projects to help build the nation and provide stable economy. To fulfil the need for R&D activities, irrigation research institute (IRI) was established in the year 1928 with a research sub-division in Lucknow and was attached to Executive Engineer. Sarda Canal, who was known as Research Officer whose name was Mr. Geral Lacy profounder of famous Regime Theory for the design of alluvial channel. The success of research wing was duly acknowledged and in 1954, the activities was later on shifted to Roorkee in 1946 where it rose to the formal status of a full fledged institute in 1954. The Institute gradually developed into a pioneer research station and is now engaged in Research and Development activities for almost all multipurpose river valley projects in Northern India.
The R&D activities of the Institute are functionally organised in nine research divisions with well equipped laboratories of Ground Water, Soil Rock Mechanics, Concrete, Photo Elastic, Aquifer Modelling, Chemical lab, Remote Sensing and Statistical Lab. Etc. at Roorkee and Hydraulic Research Station having open and covered laboratories at Bahadrabad which is about 20 Km. from Roorkee on way to Hardwar. The field research station extends over an area of about 30 hectares. The water requirement of research station is met by two gravity channel each carrying 5.7 cumec discharge. This station has capability of constructing and running large river models.
The main objectives of this Institute are as providing efficient and economical hydraulic design for various engineering works and structures viz. canal works, Surge tanks, sediment excluding and effecting devices, river training and sitting of bridges and barrages. Flood protection and anti erosion measures. Geotechnical investigations and field experimentation for study of soil and rock properties and determination of design parameters. Instrumentation in under ground structures suitability for canal linings, seepage, tubewells designs stability studies due to sub-surface flow, Water suitability determination in reservoir and channels, Mathematical modelling of hydrological events, Subsurface flow etc. providing consultancy and guidance regarding problems of river training and carrying out basic and fundamental studies in the above mentioned fields.
ROORKEE WORKSHOP
Roorkee Workshop & Foundry were originally established to cater in Ganga Canal Works in 1843, on a very modest scale, comprising merely a timber yard, a smithy and a carpenter's shop.
In 1848, Lieutenant A. Allan was appointed to take charge of the establishment, who developed spacious buildings with lathe, model and engine-room accommodation, while in 1851, further large installation of machinery was made. In 1852, the connection between Workshop and the Canal was severed, and the workshop became an independent and self-supporting institution undertaking the supply of iron and wood for general purposes, manufacture & repair of mathematical instruments and iron foundry. By 1871, it afforded employment to 1,069 artisans and labourers, engaged in work of very wide range.
THE BENGAL SAPPERS
The Bengal Sappers and Miners though raised at Kanpur in 1803 as The Bengal Pioneers are better known as "Roorkee Safar Maina" . After wandering around Kanpur, Allahabad, Delhi, Meerut and Ludhiana. The Bengal Sappers and Miners found their home in Roorkee in 1853, where they have been ever since. The official name of the Bengal Sappers has undergone many changes like '1st Prince of Wales Own Sappers and Miners', 'The Bengal Sappers and Miners' etc. But through all these changes and ages, its popular rustic name of "Roorkee Safar Maina" has stuck to it, symbolising its symbiosis with Roorkee. Safar Maina is a colloquial term for "Sappers and Miners" its association with Roorkee stretching over 143 years has made Roorkee what it is today.
The contributions of the Bengal Sappers to Roorkee are far too many to recount here. Suffice to say that the famous Ganga Canal, the Aqueduct, the Senate Building of Roorkee University all owe their origins to the engineering skills of the Bengal Engineers Group and Centre - the present day name of the Bengal Sappers in the field of education in Roorkee, the Bengal Sappers have contributed immensely, establishing or helping to establish the Bengal Sappers St. Gabriel's Academy, Kendriya Vidyalaya, St. Ann's School, Army School, the erstwhile Thomason Engineering College (now Roorkee University), Knox Memorial School and the Bengal Sappers Nursery. Today, the wives of Bengal Sappers have started Sarvagya Public School, the pride of Roorkee. Every youngman of Roorkee must surely have been on their alumni and remember with nostalgia their un-filled school days.
The Bengal Engineers Group and Centre is the pride of Roorkee. It occupies a major portion of Roorkee Cantonment and boasts of historic buildings like the Group Headquarters buildings like the Group Headquarters building built in 1856, the famous War Memorial completed in 1927, the Group Museum, the Officers' Mess - the oldest mess building in use in India built in 1856, and Safar Maina House dating back to 1903 the home of the Commandant Bengal Sappers. All these monuments of history are maintained in their pristine glory and surrounded by manicured lawns and well laidout gardens. They are a treat for the eyes at any time of the year, especially in March, every year, when the Bengal Sappers organises the Annual Flower Show and Mela "Pushpavali", an event every Roorkee eagerly looks forward to.
The Bengal Sappers War Memorial which is based on the Watch Tower at Ghuznee is a saga to the courage and devotion of every Bengal Sapper through these last 193 years. Jawans and Officers of the Group have fought for the glory of India in every corner of the world. The Battle and Theatre Honours of the Bengal Sappers is like a lexicon of the world. Prominent among these are Ghuznee, China, Afghanistan, Burma, Cassino, Jammu and Kashmir, East Pakistan and Sind. The units of the Group have fought in Aden, Egypt, Palestine, Persia, Mesopotamia, France, North Africa, Italy, Malaya, Burma, Arakans, Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc. - almost around the globe. In the 1971 operations against Pakistan, the Bengal Sappers flag fly at its zenith as units of the Group "Sappered" their way to victory.
In recognition of the Group's 59 Battle Honours and 11 Theatre Honours, The Bengal Sappers were the first of the three Engineer Groups of India to receive the Regimental Colours -a recognition by the President of the chivalrous and magnificent deeds by the Group. The colour presentation was done by President Shri R. Venkataraman on 12 January, 1989 at Roorkee reminding the proud Bengal Sappers of their rich heritage and inspiring every member of the Bengal Sapper family for all times to come, to valour and glory. This was the high point of the Group whose motto "Esta-Sewa-Ilam-Drirhta-Shoorvirta" has inspired its rank and file to win accolades for the Group year after year. The personnel of the Group year after year. The personnel of the Group through the years have shunned all distractions and worked diligently for victory in War - the ultimate and only aim of every soldier.
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