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Kanuri Lakshmana Rao
Kanuri Lakshmana Rao
Minister of Irrigation and Power
	In office; 19 July 1963 – 9 November 1973
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru; Lal Bahadur Shastri; Indira Gandhi
Constituency	Vijayawada
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
	In office; 1962–1977
Preceded by	Dr. Komarraju Atchamamba
Succeeded by	Godey Murahari
Constituency	Vijayawada
Personal details
Born	15 July 1902; Kankipadu, Vijayawada, British India; (now in Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died	18 May 1986 (aged 83); Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh; (now in Telangana)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Signature

Kanuru Lakshmana Rao (15 July 1902 – 18 May 1986) was an Indian Civil engineer and a Padma Bhushan awardee^[4] who served as the Union Minister of Irrigation & Power and Member of Parliament for Vijayawada from 1962 to 1977.

Personal life and education

Rao was born in a Telugu Niyogi brahmin family in Kankipadu, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a village attorney. He lost his father when he was nine years old. His High school studies went well in SKPVV HINDU HIGH SCHOOL, VIJAYAWADA. He lost vision in one eye due to injury during childhood days while playing at school. He studied Intermediate (+2) at Presidency College, Madras. He took his B.E. degree in Civil Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy^[5] and he was the first student from College of Engineering, Guindy to obtain a master's degree in engineering. Later he took his PhD in 1939 from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Honours

In 1963, Rao was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution in the spheres of irrigation and power.^{[citation needed]} He had been president of the Central Board of Irrigation and Power^{[citation needed]} and of the All India Engineers Association in 1958–59 and 1959–1960.^[6] He was vice-president of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (Asia) in 1957–61 and in 1961–65.^[7] He was awarded a doctorate in science by Andhra University in 1960. He was also awarded a doctorate by Roorkee University in engineering in 1968.

Engineering career

He worked as a professor in Rangoon, Burma. After completing his PhD he worked as assistant professor in the United Kingdom. He wrote a book called Structural Engineering and Reinforced Concrete. After returning to India, he worked as a design engineer for the Madras government. He held the post of director (designs) in Vidyut Commission-New Delhi in 1950. He was promoted as chief engineer in 1954.^[8]

He wrote autobiography titled The Cusecs Candidate.^[9]

Political career

He was elected as a member of parliament from Vijayawada constituency for the first time in 1961. He was elected as member of parliament three times from the Vijayawada constituency. On 20 July 1963, Rao was sworn in as a minister for Irrigation and Electricity in the union government. Under his regime as union minister for water resources, Rao designed many irrigation and hydro-electric projects. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, the world's longest masonry dam on River Krishna in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh and Nalgonda District of Telangana, also the Srisailam Dam i.e constructed across the Krishna River on the border of Mahabubnagar(presently Jogulamba Gadwal) District, Telangana and Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh near Srisailam temple town and is the 2nd largest capacity working hydroelectric station in the country is to his credit. Rao worked as union minister in Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi's cabinet.^{[citation needed]}

Recognition

In 2006, the Pulichintala project, at Bellamkonda of Guntur district, has been named as K. L. Rao Sagar project.^[10]

References

^ Ravi Baghel (14 February 2014). River Control in India: Spatial, Governmental and Subjective Dimensions. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 126. ISBN 978-3-319-04432-3. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
^ "Council of Ministers" (PDF).
^ "Lok Sabha Debates (Sixth Session, Eighth Lok Sabha)" (PDF). Lok Sabha Debates. 18 (1): 4–5. 17 July 1986. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
^ Vidya Raja (31 July 2018). "India's Oldest Engineering College Turns 225: 6 Alumni Who Have Made Guindy Proud!". The Better India.
^ "Past Presidents of Institute of Engineers". Archived from the original on 16 January 2010.
^ "Президенты ISSMGE". Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Pulichintala named after K. L. Rao". The Hindu. 22 February 2006. Archived from the original on 26 May 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2013.