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Sir Ganga Ram
Born	April, 1851 Mangtanwala
Died	10 July, 1927 London
Known for	philanthropy

Sir Ganga Ram (April, 1851, Mangtanwala - July 10, 1927, London) was an Indian civil engineer educated at the Thomason college of Civil Engineering (now IIT Roorkee), and a leading philanthropist of his times, who established the Renala Hydral Power Station in Renala Khurd in 1925.

Early life

Ganga Ram was born in 1851 in Mangtanwala, about 64 km from Lahore. His father Doulat Ram was a junior Sub inspector at a Police Station in Mangtanwala. Later, he shifted to Amritsar and became a copy-writer of the Court. Here, Ganga Ram passed his matriculation examination from the Government High School and joined the Government College, Lahore in 1869. In 1871, he obtained a scholarship to the Thomson Engineering College at Roorki. He passed the final examination with the gold medal in 1873. He was appointed Assistant Engineer and called to Delhi to help in the building of the Imperial Assemblage.

Career

In 1873, after a brief Service in Punjab P.W.D devoted himself to practical farming. He obtained on lease from Government 50,000 acres (200 km²) of barren, unirrigated land in Montgomery District, and within three years converted that vast desert into smiling fields, irrigated by water lifted by a hydroelectric plant and running through a thousand miles of irrigation channels, all constructed at his own cost. This was the biggest private enterprise of the kind, unknown and unthought-of in the country before. Sir Ganga Ram earned millions most of which he gave to charity.

In the words of Sir Malcolm Hailey, the Governor of Punjab, "he won like a hero and gave like a Saint". He was a great engineer and a great philanthropist.

In 1900, Ganga Ram was selected by Lord Curzon to act as superintendent of works in the imperial darbar to be held in connection with the accession of King Edward VII. He finished the work at the Darbar managing its manifold problems and challenges but his name was not included in the New York Honors list. Consequently, he retired prematurely from service in 1903.

He designed and built General Post Office, Lahore Museum, Aitchison College, Mayo School of Arts (now the NCA), Ganga Ram Hospital, Lady Mclagan Girls High School, the chemistry department of the Government College University, the Albert Victor wing of Mayo Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram High School ( now Lahore College for Women)the Hailey College of Commerce, Ravi Road House for the Disabled, the Ganga Ram Trust Building on The Mall and Lady Maynard Industrial School . He also constructed Model Town, once the best locality of Lahore, the powerhouse at Renala Khurd as well as the railway track between Pathankot and Amritsar

He built Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (1921), Lady Mclagan School and Renala Khurd Power House with his own money.

He was a promising agriculturist, too. He purchased thousands acres of barren land in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) on lease and by using engineering skills and modern irrigation methods, turned the arid lands into fertile fields. He died in London on July 10, 1927. His body was cremated and his ashes were brought back to India. A portion of the ashes were consigned to Ganga River and the rest buried in Lahore on the bank of the Ravi.

Sir Ganga Ram in literature

A statue of Sir Ganga Ram once stood on Mall Road in Lahore. Saadat Hasan Manto, the famous Urdu writer, in one of his stories on the frenzy of religious riots of 1947 writes that an inflamed mob in Lahore, after attacking a residential area, ‘turned to attacking the statue of Sir Ganga Ram, the Hindu philanthropist. They first pelted the statue with stones; then smothered its face with coal tar. Then a man made a garland of old shoes climbed up to put it round the neck of the statue. The police arrived and opened fire. Among the injured were the fellow with the garland of old shoes. As he fell, the mob shouted: “Let us rush him to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.” .

A student hostel, Ganga Bhawan was established at IIT Roorkee (erstwhile University of Roorkee) on Nov 26, 1957 in his honor

References

1. ^ ‘Father of modern Lahore’ remembered on anniversary By Anjum Gill, Daily Times (Pakistan) July 12, 2004
2. The Public Sculptures of Historic Lahore, Raza Rumi, Posted on April 17, 2007
3. Official Website of Ganga Bhawan

See also

• Agrawal

• 1851 births
• 1927 deaths
• Indian businesspeople
• Pakistani people
• Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India