Jamshedpur became a crucible of India at a time when migration within India was not so common. Pathans from the frontier could take the heat of the blast furnaces; Sikhs became the backbone of the steel rolling shops; clerks came from the South and Bengal.

- Jamsetji Tata in a letter written in 1902 to his son Dorab.

When Jamsetji penned these words, he had embarked on his mission to create a steel plant in India and during that year, he was visiting Britain and the US in 1902. In the US, he was meeting the captains of the steel industry and there were receptions and dinners held in his honour. When he envisaged his city of steel, not only had the site not been found, but even the explorations had not begun in earnest. Yet he had dreamt it all in his mind’s eye and when the land of Sakchi was acquired as the site in 1907, some of his dreams were to be translated into reality though he did not live to see it happen.

Tatas had the twin tasks of not only erecting a steel plant in a country where there was no infrastructure of technical men or of machinery required, but they had to plan and raise a city. The site was marked out for the Works and a massive job of clearance was undertaken with bullock carts as the main vehicle of transport. Labour was difficult to find and, as an incentive, those who cut trees, were allowed to take it and the BNIR (Bengal Nagpur Railway) offered wagons for transporting the wood. An old-timer called Das who visited Sakchi in about 1908 wrote:

“There were no roads from the station to the Sakchi camp. Job-seekers had to find their way with much difficulty along the Susingeria jungle (the place where Susingeria gate of the Steel Works stands now). In the beginning, a few tents and thatched huts, dotted amidst a jungle clearance, housed the small colony of people who were helping to lay the foundation of the Steel Works. The pioneers spent a hard and adventurous life, defying all dangers and discomforts. No one could move out of his tent at night — wild animals from the neighbouring hills howled and prowled all around. The normal amenities of life were unknown. A cup of tea or milk was a luxury to us. Water was supplied by bhistis who brought it in wooden barrels from the Subarnarekha and distributed it on a rationed basis. Sometimes, we had to go without water for hours, and there were occasions when we had to boil eggs and potatoes in aerated water!”

Three years later in February 1911, Lovat Fraser, an English journalist, noted: “I walked through street after street of commodious one-storey brick houses, all well ventilated, all supplied with running water and lit by electric lights. Many of the houses had electric fans.”

An entire city was being laid out, the first planned modern city of India. New Delhi and Chandigarh were to follow. A night school was started for employees who wished to improve their prospects. An institute with facilities for senior staff for bowling, cricket and other sports was organised. Every Saturday, the British and American officers organised racing in the heart of Sakchi, near Karim Talkies. Later, they shifted outside where the airport is today. Soon they developed an enthusiastic clientele of staff and workers who started unofficial betting. When the directors discovered this, they put a stop to racing. To give the citizens a touch of social life, a local brass band was raised. A makeshift hospital was organised in two sheds. It had five beds and a male nurse.

There was a hazard even in arriving at Sakchi and you could be waylaid walking from the station or even taking one of the eight tongas which Pathans drove to the city. Then, as now, trains arrived at odd hours and people preferred t o sleep at Kalimati Station till dawn, before they resumed their journey. Each arrival was a great event. As many as 10 men would accompany a friend safely to his train or collect him on arrival.

Putting up the Works itself was a mammoth venture. Most of the main machinery arrived by train from Bombay or Calcutta. Alexander Sahlin arrived from Brussels in 1908 and RG Wells from America in 1909. It is the energy of these two that was the principal element the Works coming up within three years.

The blooming mills, the finishing mills, the saw mills, the blast furnaces, the coke ovens, the bar mills, not to forget the power house. The capacity of the two blast furnaces was to produce 160,000 tonnes of pig iron and 100,000 tonnes of steel.

Among the officers were 175 foreigners and the total number of operating crew was 2,000. Including unskilled labour, the strength of the company was 8,500 at Sakchi, while another 10,000 were gathering iron ore at Gorumahisani.

The great occasion at the end of the war for which Sakchi rejoiced was the arrival of Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy.

The white Viceregal train steamed into Kalimati Station and Mounted Volunteers from the Works escorted the Viceroy into town. The Viceroy stayed at the new Directors’ Bungalow. Standing on the steps of the Directors’ Bungalow before a large gathering, the Viceroy said: “I can hardly imagine what we should have done during these four years (of war) if the Tata Company had not been able to give us steel rail which have been provided for us, not only for Mesopotamia but for Egypt, Palestine and East Africa, and I have come to express my thanks ... It is hard to imagine that 10 years ago, this place was scrub and jungle; and here, we have now, this place set up with all its foundries and its workshops and its population of 40,000 to 50,000 people. This great enterprise has been due to the prescience, imagination and genius of the late Mr Jamsetji Tata ... This place will see a change in its name and will no longer be known as Sakchi, but will be identified with the name of its founder, bearing down through the ages the name of the late Mr Jamsetji Tata. Hereafter, this place will be known by the name of ‘JAMSHEDPUR’.”

Jamshedpur became a crucible of India at a time when migration within India was not so common. Pathans from the frontier could take the heat of the blast furnaces; Sikhs became the backbone of the steel rolling shops; clerks came from the South and Bengal. Abodgine women carried baskets of coal and other material.

Modern shops grew on the boulevards. A Kashmiri opened a lace shop; a Chinese, shoe shop; a Japanese, a hair dressing saloon and sure enough, a Gujarati businessman called Narbherarn installed himself as the largest trader, selling everything from imported Dodge and Ford cars to apples from Australia.

Excerpts from R.M. Lala’s yet-to-be-published book, ‘The romance of Tata Steel’.

More Stories on : Events | Books | Steel | Tata Steel Ltd

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page