Kirloskarvadi

In January 1910, the Belgaum Municipality asked the Kirloskars to vacate the land occupied by them to make room for a new suburb. Suddenly, Shri. Laxmanrao Kirloskar and his brother Ramu Anna found themselves in dire need of a place to live and work. But, as is said, ‘Every adversity, is born with opportunity.’ This opportunity for the two brothers came in the form of the Raja of Aundh, and erstwhile princely state, who offered Shri. Laxmanrao the land needed in his state. Two months later, Shri. Laxmanrao Kirloskar set foot on 32 acres of barren land in Aundh, near the railway station strewn with cacti and infested by cobras.

Shri. Laxmanrao spared no time, putting together a team of 25 workers with their families to transform the barren expanse, with no electricity or water into a dream village. The township which was planned and constructed with Ramu Anna at the helm, came to be known as ‘Kirloskarvadi’. One of the first ‘Factory Village’ in India was born – the other two being Walchandnagar (Maharashtra) and Tatanagar, Jamshedpur (Bihar). That was a hundred years ago.

During Indian independence struggle, some of the militant revolutionary fighters who went underground to escape arrest took refuge in Kirloskarvadi. The workers from the factory took part in protests and satyagraha against the British rule. Two workers from the factory – Umashankar Pandya and Sadashiv Pendharkar – were killed when police opened fire on one such protest. An obelisk (Marathi: स्तंभ) and park in the town commemorates the sacrifices of these workers.

Kirloskarvadi is located at 17.085°N 74.414°E. Kirloskarvadi is located in the Krishna (Marathi: कृष्णा) river valley. It is surrounded by fertile agricultural land Burli, Kundal, Palus, Dudhondi, Sawantpur and Ramanandnagar are the nearest towns.Sangli, Satara, Pune and Kolhapur are the nearest cities.

Historically, Kirloskarvadi was part of the Tasgaon taluka in Sangli district. After creation of Palus taluka, the town became part of Palus taluka. The town is a part of the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency and Palus-Kadegaon Vidhan Sabha constituency.

The Kirloskarvadi railway station (spelled ‘Kirloskarvadi’) is on the Mumbai–Bangalore railway line managed by Central Railway, Pune division. Currently Double line electrification is in construction between Pune and Kolhapur and expected to be completed by 2020.There are trains to major cities like Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore as Jodhpur Bangalore Express, Mahalaxmi Express, Maharashtra Express. There is long time demand to have a halt for Goa Express and Ajmer Express to Kirloskarvadi station as it will give good service to Palus and Tasgaon Taluka residing Passengers. There are Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses and private buses from Kirloskarvadi to Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune and Mumbai. There is also a private airport for Business Jets and a helipad for helicopters.