KAKINADA: Public and private organisations of Dulla village in Kadiam mandal of East Godavari district on Monday paid tributes to Sir Arthur Cotton, who got the Dowleswaram Barrage constructed, on his 220th birth anniversary.
Led by farmer Sathi Bhaskara Reddy, people performed ‘abhishekam (milk bath and paddy bath)’ to a statue of Sir Arthur Cotton, amid Vedic chants, installed at Bhaskara Reddy’s residence.
Bhaskara Reddy said that before the construction of the Dowleswaram Barrage, people used to face nature’s fury, in the form of cyclones and floods.
Nekkanti Srinivas, the president of the Sir Arthur Cotton Farmers’ Association, paying tributes at Alamaru, said that the Alamuru water locks regulate Kotipalli and Korangi canals, covering 70,000 acres. The Alamur headlock is the biggest in East and West Godavari districts, he said.
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada (JNTU-K) Vice Chancellor G.V.R. Prasada Raju called upon future engineers to take inspiration from Sir Arthur Cotton, at a joint celebration held with the Institute of Engineers Kakinada local Centre and Retired Irrigation Engineers Association Kakinada (RIEAK) on the JNTU premises.
Chief guest at the varsity event S. Nageswara Rao called Sir Arthur “a great humanist” and asked people to “take inspiration from his direction and service to develop the society”.
Institute of Engineers Kakinada Local Centre chairman M. Ramesh presided over the celebrations.
Adikavi Nannaya University Vice Chancellor K. Padma Raju also paid rich tributes to Sir Arthur Cotton by garlanding his photo on the varsity premises.
Water distribution committees’ former general secretary Kovvuri Trinadha Reddy said that in the absence of the barrage devised by Sir Arthur Cotton, farmers and people living along the Godavari could have faced several problems. He said that farmers of Godavari districts are providing food to the country only due to Sir Arthur Cotton.
