Kansbahal

History

Kansbahal remained a rather unknown tribal village in the Sundargarh district of Odisha until its emergence into prominence with the establishment of "Utkal Machinery" (UTMAL), a heavy engineering plant, mainly serving the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). Utkal Machinery soon evolved into Larsen and Toubro's Heavy Engineering Works.

Geography

Kansbahal abounds in naturally beautiful and man made places, among others, Mandira Dam,towards the northwest, Water Point, towards the north, Pitamahal Dam, towards the southeast and Kansbahal Dam, towards the south that are very suitable for the picnic spots. Two rivers run by Kansbahal - Ghoghar river and Sankh river, with the Ghoghar river finally merging into the Sankh river.

A civil township has emerged with the name Bhilaigarh colony. It has almost all the latest facilities like concrete roads, telephone lines, electricity and above all a peace-loving society of vintage persona retired from L & T Kansbahal works.

The Sankh river merges downstream with the Koyal river at Vedvyas, giving birth to the famous Brahmani river of Odisha. It is believed that before authoring the epic Mahabharat, the sage Vedvyas used to reside in the caves and forested area beside the river.

Economy

Kansbahal is today a modern township - a planned mini city for its employees. Resources were poured into developing the unknown place into an ideal city. The projects included housing for over 1000 employees and their families, schools, medical facilities, transportation, road network and recreational facilities, like the bigger RSP, attracted rich talent from all over the country. This helped Kansbahal become a culturally rich and diversified township.

While L&T Kansbahal Works has had its ups and downs due to changes in the structure of L&T Ltd, the economy of the region and that of the country, the place itself has rapidly developed into a modern mini-city, comparable in many ways to those in developed nations. Many smaller communities have developed around and outside Kansbahal because of the growing importance of Kansbahal. The schools here, largely aided by L&T, have played a very important role in developing the region as a whole. Earlier, Montfort School Complex was the local high school. It prides in having regular classes up to the 10+2 level in 3 separate languages - English, Hindi and Oriya - a unique feature not found anywhere else in the region. The generations that have studied at Montfort School Complex are now placed at important places in India as well as abroad. Right now, D.A.V. has taken up the same responsibility.

The plant premises of L&T divide the township into two major sections - the North Colony and the South Colony. Other smaller sections are Old Colony, New Colony, L.I.C Colony, New L.I.C Colony, Central Colony, Security Colony, Teachers Colony, R.S. Colony, Gwalapada and Mehtab Road, Bilaigarh. For guests, there are Hostels in north colony which is fully furnished with A.C. All schools are located in the South Colony. D.A.V. Public School(Formerly Montfort School)and Utmal School have two football grounds each. All major sports events are held in one or more of these grounds. The railway station is located in the southernmost end of the city while the SH 10 passes through the Mahtab Road area on the northernmost end.

Residents actively participate in different cultural and recreational activities at the many clubs of Kansbahal. These include the North Colony Club, South Colony Club, Utkal Jyoti, Milani Club, Gunjan Club, Kansbahal Kala Kendra and the Mahila Samiti.

Transport

Kansbahal is a station on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line.

Education

Indian Institute of Production Management (IIPM), formerly Indian Institute of Foreman Training (IIFT), is another internationally recognized institute located in Kansbahal. IIPM serves to train professionals from India and abroad in advanced industrial fields. IIPM, earlier IIFT, was established by ICICI Limited in 1983 with the active support of L&T Ltd and the Government of Odisha. IIPM in collaboration with L&T, ICICI and Usha Martin has also set up a B- School in the name of IIPM School of Management in 2007, under the Biju Patnaik University of Technology. This B-school is also recognized by AICTE. IIPM completed its 25 years on 24 October 2008.

Purushottam Institute of Engineering and Technology is a B.Tech engineering college affiliated to BPUT located in Mandiakudar. Mandiakudar is a small village, it gained popularity because of proximity of engineering colleges. Presently there are two institutes in Mandiakudar located in same campus of Purushottam Vihar. Purushottam School of Engineering and Technology is one of the diploma engineering college located in mandiakudar of purushottam vihar campus. This college is affiliated to SCTE & VT which was opened in 2008. Mandiakudar has well connectivity of buses through national highway 24 to city of Rourkela and Sambalpur. Purushottam vihar campus has one small post office run by Indian Post Office with hostels for boys and girls studying in these engineering college. The Purushottam vihar campus is half kilometer far from IIPM School of Management and 1 km far from Kansbahal .

Schools

Utmal English Primary School, D.A.V. Public School(Formerly Montfort School), Kansbahal Upper Primary School, Karlakhaman School, Panchayat School, Laing School(Bimala Devi high school)

Culture

The Ghoghar Temple, dating back to antiquity, and the relatively recent ones, Jagannath Temple near the Kansbahal Railway Station, Ayyappa Temple (near Ghoghar Temple) Ganesh and Hanuman Temples in Central Colony, Gurudwara on Station Road (South Colony), St. Joseph's Church near D.A.V. School(Formerly Montfort School Complex)in New Colony, (G.E.L.)Gossner Evangelic Lutheran Church in R.S. Colony, Trinath Mandir in South Colony and Sunni Jamma Masjid at Bhilaigarh.