Burnpur

Burnpur Burnpur
City
Website	bardhaman.gov.in/

Burnpur (Bengali: বার্ণপুর) is an important industrial city in Asansol sub-division in the state of West Bengal, India . It is located in Bardhaman District, in the heart of the mining-industrial belt in the western periphery of the state.

The city got its name from the Managing Agency house, Burn & Co., which promoted IISCO in 1918. The township came up with the construction of the iron-making plant. The Indian Standard Wagon factory was also set up in 1918 and shared the township with IISCO.

Geography

Burnpur is located at 23.6667°N 86.9333°E / 23.6667; 86.9333. It has an average elevation of 75 metres (249 feet).

The location of the iron works was at Hirapur. It was a small hamlet amidst the sal (shorea robusta gaertn) forests, in Shergarh pargana belonging to the Raja of Panchakut (Panchet). Nearby villages were Narsinghbandh, Dharampur, Rangapara, Kalajharia, Nabaghunti, Santa, Napuria, Nakrasota and Chhotodighari. At that time the railway track of Bengal Nagpur Railway was there with a small station named Narsinghbandh. With the construction of the new township, the railway station was renamed Burnpur. When the steelmaking facilities were added the village of Napuria was absorbed in the plant.

The Asansol-Durgapur region is composed of undulating latterite region. This area lies between two mighty rivers – the Damodar and the Ajay. They flow almost parallel to each other in the region – the average distance between the two rivers is around 30 km. For ages the area was heavily forested and infested with plunderers and marauders. The discovery of coal led to industrialisation of the area and most of the forests have been cleared.

It has got a pleasant weather whole round the year with a lush green topography...

History

Amongst the old inhabitants of the area, the Thakurs of Hirapur and the Dubeys of Narsighbandh are well known. Manik Chand Thakur, a descendant of Srinivas Thakur, who was a direct disciple of Sri Chaitanya, came and settled in Hirapur. Hirapur finds a mention as a village, under the jurisdiction of Asansol Police Station and Post office in the Village Directory of Burdwan District, compiled by the Post Master General of Bengal in 1884. The police station and assembly constituency are still named Hirapur.

Rich cultural tradition at Bharati Bhaban

G.H.Fairhurst, the first general manager of IISCO, had a long stay at Burnpur. He was instrumental not only for founding the township but also developing it socially. A middle school was named after Mary Fairhurst. H.V.Peeling spent about a quarter of a century at Burnpur and expanded the township. He was succeeded as group agent in 1949 by I.S.Puri. Ashok Chaterjee, who was Social & Welfare Adviser in Martin Burn was the person responsible for the acquisition of land for the growth and expansion of the plant and township. As the company’s township at Burnpur was hemmed in by private localities such as Subhaspally, Puranahat, Rambandh, Shyambandh, Santinagar, Rahmatnagar and Husseinnagar apart from the old villages, new townships were built at Chhotodighari and Riverside in the late fifties. The area along Burnpur Road and Radhanagore Road also filled up with houses and the town became contiguous with Asansol.

Under the private management less than 20 per cent of the employees were allotted quarters. Since takeover of IISCO by the government, housing satisfaction increased to over 50 per cent, which is considered adequate for an industrial organisation. Now that the manpower in the steel plant is falling rapidly, and may not be more than a few thousand in a few years’ time, down from a peak manpower of 28,000 in the late seventies, Burnpur will be more of a civil township, rather than a company township, as at present.

Legacy of a colonial past - A senior officer's bungalow

IISCO Steel Plant runs several schools and there are a number of private schools. Burnpur Boys' High School ,Burnpur Girls' School, Burnpur Riverside School BRS, and Chhotodighari Vidyapith are among the reputed schools goverened by IISCO whereas Subhaspally Bidyaniketan, Hirapur School, and Shanti Nagar School are government schools. Kashinath Lahiri Public School, established in 1999, is at present providing its services mainly for the residents of Rangapara, Surjonagar, Dihika and also Burnpur.Burnpur has a rich cultural life centred on Burnpur Club, Bharati Bhaban, Employees Recreation Centre (Chhotodighari) and numerous private clubs. Burnpur Stadium has been a centre of great sporting activity. Burnpur had places of worship for different faiths from the earliest days – churches, mosques, temples and a gurdwara. Town Puja at Bari Maidan and Shivasthan have been centres of major religious activity. The undulating slopes on banks of the Damodar river has been transformed into a scenic park with the efforts of F.W.A.Lahmeyer and J.A. Deshpande. It was subsequently named Nehru Park. It is amongst the main attractions in the region for leisure and picnic spots. The main attraction in the park being sitting beside the small waterfall. The 500-bed hospital is amongst the largest and the best in the area. IISCO’s private airstrip on the banks of the Damodar and near Kalajharia village can handle small aircraft.

In burnpur one of, the most famous and under achieved person was Late.Anath Bandhu Gupta.His contribution towards IISCO steel plant was remarkable, under his supervision lots of people worked in IISCO. His best friend was Late.Nihar Ranjan Dutta(brother of Late Utpal Dutta,famous artist)He established Burnpur canteen beside burnpur boys high school, at that time it was very famous in burnpur. Owing to the 2.5 MT expansion of ISP, Burnpur now forms a heart throb of all steel companies in India & abroad. Life in and around Burnpur is once again kindling with new fire. A new mall called GALAXY is coming up will be one of its kind in the entire asansol area. With the economy boomig every day. Burnpur promises to offer an ethnic culture wrapped with all the buzz of any modern city.

References

• History of The Indian Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. by Dr. N.R.Srinivasan
• SAIL News published by Steel Authority of India Limited.

External links

• PIB Release - It gives Prime Minister’s speech during the foundation stone laying for IISCO modernisation.
• Wikimapia Satellite view – Hirapur is the police station for Burnpur.