Back to Roorkee: We landed at Roorkee in November 1948. Rai Sahib Kanahiya Lal the elder cousin of our father was extremely happy to see all of us there. He had about nine bunglows in the cantonment area at that time. He made one of the bunglows available to us. We stayed in that bunglow for about a month. Rai Sahib used to take about six to seven kilometers of morning walk every day and we got used to his knocks on our door every morning, during our stay in that bunglow. The executive engineer of Mohammadpur Pathri Power House Division was based at Roorkee. Mohammadpur power house was located on Ganga Canal about 20 kilometres downstream of Roorkee. The civil works of Mohammadpur Power House had been completed and the work for the supply and erection of machines had been allotted to a British Company and the machines and associated equipment were on their way. I was expected to provide all facilities and structural support to the erectors for completion of the work in accordance with the drawings and specifications. Pathri power station was in initial stages of construction, located on Ganga Canal about 22 kilometres upstream of Roorkee. I was expected to mark the alignment of the power channel and the power pit and to organize the supply of construction materials and equipment and necessary tools, plant and other services, that may be needed during the construction. I was also responsible for the construction of temporary buildings for the stay of officers and other project staff at site during the construction period. The job involved regular shuttling from Mohammadpur to Bahadarbad and Bahadarabad to Mohammadpur with stopovers at Roorkee.
Mohammadpur Poweorhouse: Upper Ganga Canal had a number of falls all along its run from Haridwar to Roorkee, Muzaffrnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahr and Aligarh. Nine low head hydroelectric power stations were built during the period 1910 to 1920 on Ganga Canal for the utilization of some of these falls for meeting the power requirements of the region. In those days, the economy of the country was mostly agricultural and therefore, the power made available by Ganga Canal power houses provided the initial boost to the growth of industries and associated infrastructure in western UP. Mohammadpur Powerhouse could be approached by driving for about 20 kilometres from Roorkee along Delhi road and from there a kilometer long service road led to Mohammadpur Powerhouse. We moved there with the family in December 1948. Mohammadpur had a well laid out colony of temporary buildings for the officers and other project staff. We occupied one of the officers’ quarters, where the available accommodation included two rooms 12 ft x 12 ft with an attached kitchen, bath and WC and a spacious courtyard. Our father and younger sister were with us and inspite of the modest accommodation, we felt cozy and comfortable.
There was another set of temporary buildings for the erection staff, including one set of quarters for the Europaean erectors, which were furnished suitably to make the stay of the erectors happy, comfortable and relaxing. There was another set of quarters for the supporting staff of the erectors.
Some tit bits of erection: Construction of Ganga Canal during the period 1842 to 1854 was a tremendous job and looking to the terrain, length of the canal, different types of works involved and the state of development of knowhow, materials, equipment and other facilities available in the country at that time, it was nothing short of a marvel. Thereafter, the construction of nine lowhead powerstations on Ganga Canal during 1910 to 1920 was another piece of futuristic visualization and bold enterprise under all odds. Under the context, the construction of Mohammadpur Powerhouse in 1948 with locally available materials, equipment and expertise was a commendable job. A fall of 9 ft was available on Ganga Canal at Mohammadpur and another fall of 9 ft was available on the upstream side between Roorkee and Mohammadpur. These falls were merged for the development of a hydro-electric powerstation at Mohamadpur for a total available head of 18 ft. The discharge of Ganga Canal at that time was 9000 cusecs. The powerhouse was divided into three bays for the installation of three turbines. Each turbine was designed to generate 3.0 megawatts of power. The power channel, structure of the powerhouse and other associated civil works were in the final stages of construction. Modern construction equipment, construction methods and construction techniques were not available at that time. The erectors had arrived and were busy in assembling and marking the position of different fittings, fixtures and installations. It may look strange that even the smallest parts involved in the installation were imported from Britain and sometimes, structural changes had to be made in some parts of the powerhouse building, to accomodate the shape, size and alignment of the different components and installations. It was at that time, that, the representativaes of the British Company pointed out, that, the quality of concrete in the draft tubes needed to be tested, before they could go ahead for the installation of the turbines and generators.
That was the time, when the development of infrastructure in the country was almost stagnant and facilities for testing concrete were not readily available. We managed to take out concrete cores from the draft tube by drilling and sent them to the government testing laboratory at Alipur in Calcutta. In spite of the conventional methods of construction, the samples of concrete taken out from the draft tube were found to be meeting the requisite standards. For a final call on the issue, the chief engineer of the British Company flew to Roorkee from Canada. Our chief engineer came down to Roorkee from Lucknow. There were reasonably heated exchanges. The representative of the supplier was worried about the reputation of the company. Our chief engineer was worried about the unnecessary delay in installation.
In the meantime, Sir William Stampe who had worked as Chief Engineer of irrigation department of UP from 1937 to 1939 and had subsequently worked as irrigation advisor to the Government of India was travelling from London to Sydney with a short stopover at Delhi. He took a taxi at Delhi and drove to Roorkee and was found climbing on the rungs of the machine bays, when I met him at the powerhouse. For his age, he was extremely active. He took me for a thorough inspection of almost every nook and corner of the powerhouse from bay one to bay two and from bay two to bay three, moving up and down with the help of steel rungs embedded in the divide walls. He seemed to be satisfied with the test results of concrete and was worried about the unnecessary controversy about the quality of concrete of the draft tubes. This was his private visit. Nobody had invited him and nobody knew about his programme. After spending a few hours at the powerhouse, he went back to Delhi for continuing his flight to Sydney. Subsequently, he mailed a six page report about his observations to the state government.
Marriage of our sister: Uma was our youngest sister. She was with us at Bareilly and on our transfer to Roorkee, she had travelled with us from Bareilly. Moona Jiji again took the initiative and finalized her relation with Mohan Lal, who belonged to a known family of Jansath and was working at that time, as Section Officer in irrigation department of UP. As soon as the word went round, our sisters and other close relatives joined us at Mohammadpur and there was a regular flow of relatives and family friends shuttling on and off from Roorkee. A number of swiss cottage tents were pitched in the open space lying outside our quarter, for the stay of our relatives and a big shamiana (tent) was pitched in a central location to serve as a common meeting place for the people. There is no dearth of family rituals and different ceremonies, when the fertile brain of a closeknit bunch of ladies starts working. Naturally, the whole environment remained buzzing with all types of noise, music and activities for almost a month during March and April 1949. After marriage in April1949 our sister and the marriage party were provided with a rousing send-off, with all the fanfare, by our relatives, family friends, powerhouse staff and erectors.
Navigation Channel: When Ganga Canal was constructed in the middle of the nineteenth century, roads and railways were in a very primitive state of development in the country. That made navigation an important part of the project, for the transport of forest products and construction materials. Ganga Canal had a number of falls on her way and therefore, navigation channels and navigation locks were provided in the form of loops by the side of all falls to facilitate unhindered movement of boats. In course of time the pockets of land lying between the main canal and the navigation channels became isolated dense forests and some of these pockets turned into sanctuaries for wild animals.The pocket of land lying between the main canal and navigation channel at Mohammadpur was one such place, where lions and other wild animals freely roamed. During the marriage of our sister Uma, our relations and their children got used to regular evening and morning walks along the canal banks and by the side of the navigation channel. One fine evening, we were walking with a group of children, ladies and some elders on the outer side of the navigation channel, when we sighted a lion coming out leisurely from the forest and gradually moving towards the inner wall of the navigation channel. All of us stood still for a moment and did not know how to react. However, the lion turned round and continued his slow march, finally disappearing in the forest.