Structural wizard Dr. C.S. Viswanatha, the absolute guru to the world of structural and civil engineering, will indeed be missed by the fraternity as the professional, mentor, adviser and guide also had a systematic lifestyle and wore a humble persona.
Popularly known as Dr. CSV, his death has created a vacuum in the civil engineering profession.
The ACCE (I) Bangalore centre dedicates REDECON 2014 - an international seminar and exhibition on Precast Concrete Technology (to be held from November 9 to 13 at NIMHANS convention centre) to Dr. C.S. Viswanatha.
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Rewind to 12th September, 1983, when the structural engineers of Bangalore woke up with a jolt. “Gangaram Building Collapses” read the headlines in the media. Structural engineers indirectly were the soft targets. At this juncture, a conscious group of practising structural engineers in the city came together and responded to the situation arising out of the major structural failure by engaging the stakeholders and deliberated about the incident. After serious introspection, this group decided to form an organisation for self-regulation and capacity building to effectively ensure quality standards in construction of buildings and structures. As a result, and after a series of meetings and discussions for over 18 months, ACSE (Association of Consulting Structural Engineers) was formed and got registered with Registrar of Societies under the Society Act on April 26, 1985, at Bangalore.
Dr. C.S. Viswanatha of Torsteel Research Foundation, Bangalore, took the initiative and gave an impetus to the whole idea of establishing an organisation — ACCE(I) — that is founded on a sound civil engineering principle.
Early goals included fostering fellowship among engineers, disseminating knowledge and emerging as a unified voice and spokesperson for the community that is spread across the country. He always gave credit to the youngsters in the group for making ACCE(I) a powerful platform. He always said “Associations across the country are doing a good job and the way forward is to unify the voice of these scattered groups”.
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Dr. Viswanatha graduated with a first rank at the Mysore University in civil engineering in 1960 and repeated it with his master’s from IISc, Bangalore. In 1980, he completed his Ph.D. from IISc and took up teaching there.
His 17-year teaching stint at IISc ensured that many of the well-known figures in the profession are either his students or peers and thereupon won numerous awards including the ICI-L&T Lifetime Achievement Award by Indian Concrete Institute, National Design Award-2005, and ACCE(I) Gaurav Award-2000 instituted by ACCE(I). Recognising his contributions, the Karnataka Government made him Chairman of the Task Force on Quality Assurance in Public Constructions where he held the status of a Minister of State. The “Reference Manual For Field Engineers On Building Construction” prepared when he was the chairman of the Task Force would be a permanent guide to quality constructions.
Some of the works that Dr. CSV cherished were the relocation of Buddha statue at Hussainsagar, Secunderabad (1994); the renovation of the Raj Bhavan in Bangalore; and the Children’s Gallery of Mysore Palace.
Dr. CSV was proud to be associated with significant projects including the design of monumental structures at Koodalasangama pilgrimage centre; the condition assessment of aircraft industry workshops and hangars around the country belonging to Hindustan Aeronautics; and restoration of Don Aqueduct in the Krishna valley.