Roorkee: Roorkee was a small sleepy village of mud hutments on the banks of river Solani, during the times of Moghul Emperor Akbar. It formed part of Landhaura State in the eighteenth century. In 1813, it came under the control of East India Company. Roorkee touches the foothills of Himalayas on north and north-eastern sides with a panoramic view of the Himalayan mountain ranges. It is located at 29.870N and 77.880E at an elevation of 268 m ( 879 ft ) above sea level. The climate is continental with good rainfall. Previously, Roorkee was a tehsil in Saharanpur district of United Provinces and at that time Haridwar formed part of Roorkee Tehsil. After the formation of Uttaranchal, now known as Uttrakhand, Roorkee became a tehsil of Uttrakhand in Haridwar district. It lies on the national highway connecting Delhi, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar to Dehradun and Mussorie on the north side and to Haridwar and Rishikesh on the north-east side. Roorkee also lies on the main railway line running from Pathankot to Howrah through Amritsar, Ambala, Mordabad and Lucknow.
River Ganga: River Ganga rises from Gangotri in the Himalayas and after a track of 250 km though mountaneous country and flowing through narrow valleys and deep gorges and taking all the twists and turns, it emerges from the mountains at Rishikeh. Thereafter, it enters the plains at Haridwar, with a width of about a kilometer during floods and forming a number of flow channels with intermediate islands during winters and summers. Ganga is 2500 km long and is one of the longest rivers of the world. It is considered as the holiest river of India and is revered as a mother. Har-ki-Pairi the holiest of the holiest places in India and all other ghats lie on the western bank of river Ganga at Haridwar. Bhimgoda barrage was constructed across river Ganga, about a kilometer upstream of Har-ki-Pairi and the waters of Ganga were diverted from Bhimgoda barrage into the flow channel of Ganga running through Har-ki-Pairi and other ghats at Haridwar. Ganga Canal takes of from this flow channel of river Ganga from Mayapur dam, located about 5 km downstream of Har ki Pairi.
Ganga Canal: Ganga Canal forms one of the biggest irrigation systems of the world. Looking to the very limited availability of technical knowhow, construction materials, construction equipment and trained manpower and the difficult sub-mountaneous country and crossings of hill streams in the head reaches, the construction of Ganga Canal by East India Company during the period 1842 to 1854 was an engineering marvel, which ushered an era of plenty and prosperity for western districts of United Provinces. It was a multipurpose project. Initially, it included irrigation and navigation. Navigation was mostly used for the transport of construction materials and forest products. Subsequently, the falls of the canal were utilized for the generation of hydro-electric power by the construction of nine powerhouses on Ganga Canal. Ganga Canal occupies a very significant place in the growth and development of Roorkee. A steel foundry was established at Roorkee for the fabrication of gates and other regulation equipment for Ganga Canal works. An engineering institution was started at Roorkee in 1845 for providing trained manpower for the construction and maintenance of Ganga Canal. The institution became an engineering college in 1847. A railway track was laid at Roorkee during the construction of Solani aqueduct on Ganga Canal for hauling earth for the embankments. Ganga Canal runs through the heart of Roorkee, dividing it into two distinct parts. The city lies on the west side of the canal, whereas, the civil lines, engineering college and cantonment occupy the east side of the canal.
Thomason College Roorkee: Thoamason college of civil engineering Roorkee had its beginnings in 1847 when a civil engineering college was formally established at Roorkee for providing trained manpower for the construction, running and maintenance of Ganga Canal Works and subsequently for public works department of the state and for civil works of the armed forces. It was renamed as Thomason College of Civil Engineering Roorkee in the year 1954 in the memory of Sir James Thomason who was the Lt-governor of UP during that period. Thomason College of Civil Engineering Roorkee was one of the first engineering colleges of India as also of Asia. Thomason College became University of Roorkee in the year 1949 during its centenary celebrations and subsequently, it was declared as the seventh Indian Institute of Technology in the year 2001.
From the beginning, Thomason College of Civil Engineering Roorkee was closely associated with public works departments of the state and defence services of the country for the training of officers and other technical personnel required for construction, running and maintenance of civil works. However, other courses were conducted from time to time to meet the requirements of officers and technicians in the field. An elelectrical engineering course was started in 1897. Most of the faculty, including the principal and professors were drawn from the public works departments of the state and defence services.
In the good old days, the college was running three courses: Engineering course for Europeans, Upper subordinate course for Europeans and Indians and Lower subordinate course for Indians. The intake for the engineering course was normally thirty, which was filled by selection on all India basis. The top eight students passing out from the institution were admitted directly to the Indian Service of Engineers and were posted in the public works departments of British Provinces of the country, where they rose to the top in course of time. The remaining students were posted in public works departments of the state. The arrangement continued upto 1928 batch of Thomason College of Civil Engineering Roorkee, when further recruitment to Indian Service of Engineers was abolished. Thereafter, all students passing out from the college got their postings in Public works departments of UP.
Bengal Engineering Group: Roorkee cantonment is one of the oldest cantonments of India. It was established in the year 1853 when Royal Engineers ( Sappers and mimers) were stationed at Roorkee. Royal Engineers are now known as Bengal Engineering Group and have a large presence in the cantonment. Thomason College of Civil Engineering Roorkee had a long association with Royal Engineers and Bengal Engineering Group. Tournaments popularly known as Olympics were organized every year in Hockey, Football, Tennis and Squash between the students of Thomason College and officers of Royal Engineers. The encounters were very helpful in development of interaction and fraternal ties between two major establishments of Roorkee.
School of Military Engineering: Thomason College of Civil Engineering Roorkee was associated with the defence services from the beginning. It provided trained manpower to the defence services and had officers of the army as members of the teaching fraternity from time to time. During the period 1934 to 1943 Thomason college was entrusted with the conduct of regular training courses for the officers and other men of Army Corps of Engineers. Thereafter, School of Military Engineering was formally established in the campus of Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee in 1943 for meeting the fast growing needs of trained manpower of the defence services during the second world war. School of Military Engineering functioned at Roorkee from 1943 to 1948, when it was shifted to Poona and renamed as College of Military Engineering.
Punjab Engineering College: After the partition of India in 1947, Punjab Engineering College was shifted from Lahore to Roorkee. It functioned in the campus of Thomason College of Civil Engineering Roorkee for a period of four years and shifted to Chandigarh in the year 1952.