Sir Arthur Cotton – A Noble Work of God

‘Colonel Cotton’s name will be venerated by millions yet unborn, when many, who occupy a much larger place in the public view, will be forgotten, but, although, it concerns not him, it would be, for our own sake, a matter of regret if Colonel Cotton were not to receive due acknowledgement during his life time’—such was the tribute paid by Sir Charles Trevelyan, Governor of Madras in the year 1858, by which year Sir Arthur Cotton completed the Godavari anicut works at Dowlaiswaram and the results of Irrigation channels and Navigation canals started flowing there after...And that fulfilled the augury of making the district the ‘granary of the South,’ following the success of irrigating the lands in Tanjore district by taming the Coleroon river, by Cotton, the engineering wizard.

About the time when the British dominion in India was attaining its zenith there was born in the family of Baron Sir Lynch Cotton of Cheshire, England, on 15th May 1803 a baby boy. The boy was his tenth grandson, who in course of time, was destined to rise to the rank of a General in the field of Military Engineering, with a difference that his campaigns were aimed at conquering the hearts of the people of South India through gigantic irrigation schemes designed and built by him across some of the principal rivers such as Cauvery, Krishna and Godavari.

A remarkably intelligent boy, he was able to obtain a cadetship for India, at the age of 15, and joined the military seminary at Addiscombe, where the cadets intended for the Artillery and Engineer Service of the East India Company then received education. So well had Arthur worked at Addiscombe that he obtained appointment in the Royal Engineers without having to undergo any examination, perhaps the only instance of admission in the Scientific Corps of the Royal Engineers.

Lieutenant Cotton started his career with Ordinance survey in Wales in Jan. 1820, and presented an admirable report for which he received high praise. In May 1821, he was appointed to service in India, when he was just 18, and embarked for Madras and reached there after a voyage of 4 months. He was attached to the office of the Chief Engineer for the presidency and after nearly a year, he was appointed as an Assistant to the Superintending Engineer of the Tank department, Southern Division. The period from 1822 to 1827 was spent partly in the Tank Irrigation department and partly on military duties, notable among them being the First Burmese war, which took Cotton to Rangoon, Tennasserim and Mergui. On his return from Burma he was ordered to make a marine survey of the Paumben passage between India and Ceylon.

On reporting himself, after arrival in Madras, Lieut. Cotton was appointed to act as Superintending Engineer Central division, Tank department. His duties were the inspection and repair of irrigation works. He was appointed to the separate charge of the Cauvery irrigation, which formed part of the Southern division. After eight years of service he was promoted to the rank of Captain. He made a special study of the needs of the Tanjore district and the moods of the Coleroon river. Having got the work started Captain Cotton had perforce to surrender to repeated attacks of jungle fever and obtained sick leave to Europe.

His visit to Tasmania on this occasion was destined to have important consequences upon the whole of his after life, there he was to find the partner of his remaining years, the true, the loving, the cherished, companion in Miss Elizabeth Learmonth. Their marriage took place in October 1841. After another year and a half, spent in the fine climate of Tasmania, Captain and Mrs. Cotton returned to India, their voyage made happier by the presence of a little daughter, two months old.

A narrative of the sequence of events that led to the completion of Delta works on the Godavari and Krishna gives us a clear picture of Sir Arthur Cotton’s great contribution to the welfare and well being of the people of the coastal districts.

In 1832-33, a terrible famine ravaged the coastal districts and the country had only partly recovered from the effects of this disaster when the three unfavorable years 1835 to 1838 were followed by the calamities of 1838-39and 1840-41. The decreasing population and more than that, the dwindling revenue now forced the Government into action. Sir Henry Montgomery the Collector of Tanjore district was deputed to Rajahmundry district to inquire into the causes of the rapid decline of the district and to advise  remedial measures. On the advice of Sir Henry Montgomery, the Madras Govt. acted at once and deputed Capt A. Cotton who studied and located the problem to the gross neglect of irrigation in the district and sent his report in the year 1844 urging the taking up of the Godavari Anicut scheme. Cotton started the work in 1847 with estimates of 47, 557-Sterling pounds.

With labour mostly unskilled, and a primitive apparatus, a small but able band of Assistants laboured with Cotton in the sweltering heat of the Godavari delta.

Major Cotton devised an ingenious method for the construction of the four arms of the anicut connecting the islands in between, without a prototype earlier for making any study. He made use of the locally available materials, such as rubble stone, freshly made bricks, hydraulic lime, timber etc. The conveyance of materials from the quarry to the river bank was by an improvised Tramway and bullock carts. For ferrying across the river, locally made boats in good number were deployed. The brick and lime kilns were kept burning for about two months, yielding the required quantities for the whole year. The local manpower were well molded for the work and made use of by him.

The labour rates then paid would be of interest to know in the present context of inflated economy. A man mazdoor was paid one anna (present 6 paise), a woman mazdoor was paid three fourths of an anna (About 5 paise) and two and two thirds annas (16 paise) for the skilled labour including carpenters, masons, black-smiths etc; The entire project was completed by 1852 which means in six seasons where as the present day projects of similar magnitude are extending to decades with all the modern equipment and improved technical knowledge. Arthur Cotton had an efficient and highly motivated team of engineers to work with him. Mr. Veenam Veeranna was one such local overseer. Major Cotton was always available at work-site even during the hot days and also nights for providing any kind of advice required by his staff. He was very kind to his staff. While appreciating the good services rendered by Mr. Veeranna, the only Indian Overseer, Major Cotton said, “Mr. Veeranna has been gifted with exceptional qualification for conducting engineering operations as well as for directing and managing large bodies of native labour. If we had not found an Indian of this remarkable qualification, I don’t see how the works could have been executed for no European could have supplied his place and no Indian equal to him has appeared.” Then Mr. Veeranna was promoted as Sub-Engineer with the title of ‘RaiBahadur’.

The Economic method of construction of anicuts on pure sand which originated with Cotton, has influenced the design of the other similar hydraulic works in the Madras Presidency, and was the result of Cotton’s appreciation of the old native engineers in India. The Godavari project as a whole was completed in the year 1855. With the completion of this undertaking, Arthur Cotton may be said to have reached the pinnacle of his fame. Later, another anicut across River Krishna was constructed, on the same lines, by Capt. Orr, (Cotton’s assistant) based on the design formulated by Cotton. The work was started in 1851 and was completed by 1855; by constructing a dam of 15ft height across the gorge.

It was a wonderful achievement by Arthur Cotton in converting the areas as it did, areas susceptible to famines into one of the richest tracts in India. In 1858, he came forward with still more ambitious proposals covering almost the whole of India. He recommended the construction of irrigation and navigational canal system starting from Rajmahal on the Ganges upto Haridwar and another system linking  Godavari and Krishna upto Madras and then the west coast contemplating a navigable line, 4000 miles in length, from Karachi by Cawnpore, Calcutta and Cuttack to Bhatkal, Mangalore and Madras. “There is not a single obstacle to this”, he wrote “and the results would be far beyond calculation”.

Arthur Cotton was knighted in 1861, in which year he left India, though he returned as an Engineering Adviser in 1862 and 1863. His work in India was so much appreciated by the Govt. of the day that Her Majesty the Queen was pleased to confer upon him the honour of K.C.S.I.

Arthur Cotton’s mind was ever busy studying the problems of the Indian rivers with a view to improving the lot of the Indian peasant. It was his dream that India should become a land overflowing with milk and honey. He was not against the Railways in India but he strongly advocated the efficacy and the top priority for water storage reservoirs for production of food in the famine ridden country and for alleviation of poverty through irrigation and navigation.

Even though designated, a civil Engineer, Arthur Cotton was a man of versatile parts and had a wonderful grasp of almost everything falling within the domain of a civil Engineer. His plea for a Sea Port for Rajahmundry and a large project for making a natural harbour at Vizagpatam, by a single break-water run out from the bold promontory of the Dolphin’s nose, south of the town, shows his penchant and knowledge of port and harbour engineering.

As the adage goes, mediocre spirits generally condemn everything that exceeds their small stature. So to say, with all the achievements to his credit Sir Arthur Cotton, experienced difficulties from official sources. The reason is attributed to the lack of sympathy with his high aims and the total absence of appreciation of what irrigation really was in itself.

He had to appear as a witness before the parliamentary committee! But the hostile questions put to him never once caused him embarrassment; On the contrary they served to bring out in more striking manner his wonderful mastery of all the details of varied needs in wholly dissimilar localities.

Sir Arthur Cotton’s plans for the restoration of prosperity to India found adequate expression in his replies and justification for the act of justice to the suffering people of India and as an ample proof of his foresight and character. He thus shared the pain of the race whom he served, and also proved that he has not lived his life bare and idle. He was so far ahead of his times in his mission for irrigation that the HINDU newspaper from Madras paid tributes to his vision in an article published in 1900, stating that the only calculated measure against the possibility of the occurrence of famines is the storing up of large quantities of water in spacious and deep reservoirs as advocated by Sir Arthur Cotton.

“His life has been one that was inspired by Love and guided by knowledge as Bertrand Russel put it in a particular context  There is truth in what Sir Richard Sankey said about him: “His works.....have already saved thousands of lives, and will continue to do so as long as the world lasts”–