As required by syllabus, students had to be attached with an important engineering project for a month long practical training, and thereafter present a detailed report to the University. Myself and my colleague Naseeruddin Mahmood were earmarked for attachment with Sharda Canal Headworks at Banbassa Town in Nainital District. Naseer and me were close friends and as such were happy with this choice.
Night had descended when we reached Banbassa after a day long road journey from Bareilly. All the offices situated at Project site had closed. Assistant Engineer, Bimal Kumar Tripathi made arrangement for our stay at Government Guest House. Since this guest house normally used to remain unoccupied, a person was also earmarked for cooking and our other requirements. It was necessary because no other facilities were available around that campus. Nights were completely silent except a perennial sound of water flow coming from the direction of “ Barrage”. In another suite of guest house, a retired army officer Colonel Dhingra was staying with his wife. This couple had arrived in Banbassa to spend some time. Colonel was a man of courageous nature. Within next 2-3 days, myself and Naseer understood that if we continue addressing Colonel as “Sir” and his wife as “Aunty”, we, the “young folks”, would continue to get some freshly prepared dishes from their kitchen.
During our one month stay at Project site, we studied almost all the documents taken out from Record Room. An English Surveyor at the beginning of 19th century itself, had made a proposal to take out Sharda Canal by constructing a barrage on River Sharda. Based on the available data, we broadly redesigned the engineering of this barrage. This matched a lot with the existing structure. A detailed study was also carried out regarding its construction, operating procedures and maintenance schedules for this barrage. Our proposed report was presented before Executive Engineer during one of his inspection tours. The final shape was provided to it after his approval. This report by Naseer and myself was appreciated a lot in college.
In addition to technical concepts, as a by-product, we also learnt and understood a number of practical tips to be adopted during different situations. It was felt that these are eternal truths based on experiences of life.
Night had descended when we reached Banbassa after a day long road journey from Bareilly. All the offices situated at Project site had closed. Assistant Engineer, Bimal Kumar Tripathi made arrangement for our stay at Government Guest House. Since this guest house normally used to remain unoccupied, a person was also earmarked for cooking and our other requirements. It was necessary because no other facilities were available around that campus. Nights were completely silent except a perennial sound of water flow coming from the direction of “ Barrage”. In another suite of guest house, a retired army officer Colonel Dhingra was staying with his wife. This couple had arrived in Banbassa to spend some time. Colonel was a man of courageous nature. Within next 2-3 days, myself and Naseer understood that if we continue addressing Colonel as “Sir” and his wife as “Aunty”, we, the “young folks”, would continue to get some freshly prepared dishes from their kitchen.
During our one month stay at Project site, we studied almost all the documents taken out from Record Room. An English Surveyor at the beginning of 19th century itself, had made a proposal to take out Sharda Canal by constructing a barrage on River Sharda. Based on the available data, we broadly redesigned the engineering of this barrage. This matched a lot with the existing structure. A detailed study was also carried out regarding its construction, operating procedures and maintenance schedules for this barrage. Our proposed report was presented before Executive Engineer during one of his inspection tours. The final shape was provided to it after his approval. This report by Naseer and myself was appreciated a lot in college.
In addition to technical concepts, as a by-product, we also learnt and understood a number of practical tips to be adopted during different situations. It was felt that these are eternal truths based on experiences of life.