Kansbahal

Kansbahal remained a rather unknown tribal village and forested area in the Sundargarh district of Odisha until its emergence into prominence with the establishment of "Utkal Machinery Limited" (UTMAL), a heavy engineering company, mainly serving the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).^[1] Utkal Machinery Limited soon evolved into Larsen and Toubro's Heavy Engineering Works.^[2]

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.

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 legendary sage Vedavyas used to reside in the caves and forested area beside the river.

Outside the L&T Township, 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.

Today, Kansbahal is 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,^[3] 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 Odiya - 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 township are divided 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 is a fully furnished AC Guest House in North Colony. All schools are located in the South Colony. D.A.V. Public School (formerly Montfort School Complex) and Utmal School have two football grounds each. All major sports events are held in one or more of these grounds.

Residents of L&T Township 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.

Kansbahal railway station on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line is located in the southernmost end of the L&T Township while the SH 10 passes through the Mahtab Road area on the northernmost end.