Kirloskarvadi

Kirloskarwadi is an industrial township that developed around the Kirloskar Brothers factory in the Sangli district, in Maharashtra state, India. It is the second oldest industrial township in India. On March 10, 2010, Kirloskarwadi celebrated 100 years of its establishment.HistoryThe town of Kirloskarwadi was founded by Laxmanrao Kirloskar in 1910 when he started his factory, called Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, near the railway station that was at that time called Kundal Road. Laxmanrao Kirloskar had read about "industrial townships" in Europe and USA where the owners of industries had built communities for the employees. His dream was to build his own industry and a community for the employees. The culmination of his dream is the town of Kirloskarwadi. Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, the ruler of the Aundh Sansthan, one of the many Indian Princely States under the British rule in India before independence, donated the land to Laxmanrao Kirloskar to establish the factory and the town. The factory around which the town was built is still the flagship manufacturing plant of Kirloskar Brothers LtdDuring Indian independence struggle, some of the militant revolutionary fighters who went underground to escape arrest took refuge in Kirloskarwadi. 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 and park in the town commemorates the sacrifices of these workers.