Lord Varuna Comes From England

SIR ARTHUR COTTON FROM ENGLAND [1803-1899]
 Father of Indian Irrigation

Sometime in 1969 a senior documentary film maker from India went to England and was passing by the side of a cemetery at Dorking in England. He was surprised to see a young South Indian couple holding a big wreath and entering the cemetery. They headed towards a headstone, placed the wreath in front of it and bent down respectfully with folded hands in the typical South India style. The wreath had a tag attached to it which read:

Sir Arthur Cotton [11th May 1803 to 14th July 1899]
From: Srimathi and Sri Durga Prasad,
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

Unable to contain his curiosity, the film maker asked them as to what prompted them to come all the way to England to pay respects to a Britisher who had died 70 years back. This is what Sri Durga Prasad said: “We, in the southern part of India, owe a great deal to this noble soul, Sir Arthur Cotton. My forefathers were grateful to him and my great grandsons will be grateful as well. It was he and he alone who brought prosperity to the parched areas of our great region by ushering in plenty of water with his hard work and devoted zeal. And, if the present Indian leaders have the will and determination to follow his plans, there will be no dearth of water in our country”. The story of the life and achievements of Sir Arthur Cotton is really amazing.

Though born as an Englishman in a middle class family in England in 1803 Cotton not only adopted India as his motherland when he grew up but also earned the title “ Maharishi” by grateful people in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh in the early 19th Century. Those Andhraites remember him even today as ‘Lord Varuna’ who solved their personal water problem. He joined the Royal Engineers in England as a Lieutenant in 1821 and opted for services in India. He was posted to India in 1822 as an engineer attached to the office of the Chief Engineer, Madras Presidency. Even though he was a servant of the East India Company, the moment he landed in India he came to love every inch of Indian soil he walked on. India took care of him as one of her pet sons. Within a few months of his arrival, he got himself endeared to his bosses by his diligent and hard work. This earned him a promotion to the rank of a Colonel very soon.

Cotton’s first major assignment was in Tanjore where famine, diseases and poverty were proverbial. The plight of the people there so disturbed Cotton that he started ways and means of alleviating their sufferings. He inspected the delta region of the river Kaveri in Tanjore District. When he saw the Kaveri River with all its splendor and vast expanse of water, his first words were “What a noble river! How can hungry and poverty stricken people progress if we do not provide them with the basic need WATER”. He surveyed the entire area, prepared the blue print for the Upper and Lower Coleroon Dam and got them approved and dam constructed under his own supervision under extremely difficult


working conditions. Even though he was a servant of the East India Company and the
construction of the Coleroon Dam was not a revenue yielding proposition, Cotton’s sole aim was to serve a suffering humanity. Within 6 years of the completion of the dam, the standard of living of the people of Tanjore District substantially improved and Tanjore District became a granary.

Cotton’s next posting was at Vishakhapatnam which was then a part of Madras Presidency. He was sent there to construct a huge sea wall with a view to protecting the eroding sea beach. He got the job executed with remarkable speed. If today Vizag can boast of a beautiful sea beach, a lion’s share of the credit goes to Cotton. When Cotton was staying in Vizag, the River Godavari attracted as much of his attention as the River Kaveri had done earlier. When he studied the potential of the river he was amazed to discover that the river was not completely harnessed, particularly when the Rajamahundry district was in a disgraceful state. During some years, due to excessive rainfall the whole area got flooded while during some other years when there was no rainfall, drought conditions prevailed. No one had ever thought of preserving the waters of the Godavari River when it rained heavily. In Cotton’s opinion the River Godavari was God’s gift to Rajahmundry district. When Cotton brought these facts to the notice of the higher authorities, Sir Henry Montgomery of the Board of Revenue asked Capt. Cotton to survey the entire area and furnish a detailed report on the state of irrigation in the district and his recommendations for the improved utilization of the River Godavari. While Cotton undertook the job and was surveying the entire area, he wrote a letter to his brother on 18th June 1845. in which he said inter alias:
“On taking charge of the Division, I made a run through Rajamundry and could not help seeing what it wanted, which was simply everything. So magnificent a country in such a state of ruin is the greatest disgrace to a civilized Government”.

Cotton submitted his report expeditiously to the Governor of Madras who in turn recommended it to Directors of East India Company in London for final approval. Soon the construction of the anicut started soon. In the midst of the project work, Capt, Cotton got promoted to a Major’s rank. It is learnt that one time there were ten thousand workers who worked round the clock during the construction of the anicut. Major Cotton took up residence at the work site. His wife and daughter settled down in a shanty place on the river bank. The hut house was erected on palm poles and the roof was thatched with palm leaves. It was a happy little home with full of joy. At times, when the quarry was blasted the little house used to vibrate with pieces of stone falling on the roof top. It was here in this little hut that a second daughter was born to the Cotton couple. Unfortunately the child passed away after 12 months. The couple buried in a little graveyard looking down upon the Godavari River. In November 1848 the 3000 feet anicut was completed—A proud monument in Arthur Cotton’s dedicated hard work to the suffering people of this region.







With the completion of the Godavari Anicut, Cotton was promoted to the rank of a Colonel and was posted to Madras as Chief Engineer, Madras Presidency. He was the very first engineer to suggest sometime in 1870 the inter-linking of all the major Indian rivers so that the water problem of the entire could be solved. He even prepared a detailed estimate which would have cost the government about 30 million pounds. Unfortunately his proposal was ignored with the result that the country today will have to spend more than Rs.50, 000 Crores for the inter-linking of all major rivers. Cotton retired in 1869 at the age of 57 and this ‘Karma yogi’ sailed for England. According to his daughter, Lady Hope “ My father’s first act on entering the house was to remove all ornamental decorations in the house and cover the areas with maps, papers, compasses, measuring tapes as well as other implements used in his craft. He always used to say “I like to be reminded of India wherever I go.”. Even after retirement, he remained in close contact with the land and the people with two words all the time on his lips “India” and “Irrigation”.

The great Karma yogi passed away in London in 1899 at the ripe old age of 96

B.M.N.Murthy

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ARTICLE NO. 513--Sir Arthur Cotton from England,Father of Indian Irrigation
Created: Friday, July 31, 2009 9:21 PM