Sambalpur is the western most districts in the state of Odisha, India.

The historic
city of Sambalpur is the districts headquarter. The district is located in the
Mahanadi river basin. Hirakud, a small town some fifteen kilometers from
Sambalpur, can be easily visited on a day trip. It's in the town the fourth largest
world famous dam, Hirakud Dam and slso Asia's longest Earthen Dam is built.
Construction of the Hirakud Dam was completed in 1956. The main dam is 3
miles with a maximum height of 195 feet and has a kyke of 13 miles.

It wason March 1946 the foundation of Hirakud dam was laid at the site of the
dam by the then Governor of Odisha, Sir Harthurun Lewis. However the actual
construction started in the middle of 1948 and for the second time a foundation
of cement concrete work was laid on April 12 1948 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehuru,
the first Prime Minister of free India.

What are the factors that necessitated the construction of a reservoir across the
river Mahanadi? After a great deal of study construction of reservoir was the only
panacea for a number of problems flood, drought, poverty and diseases.

After the devastating flood of 1937 Sir M Visvesvaraya was requested by the
Government of Odisha to advise them on the flood control problem. The former
suggested multipurpose waster reservoir.

However on the recommendation of A. N. Khosla Chairman of Central Waterways

Irrigation and Navigation Commission a conference was held on 8-11-1948 at
Cuttack under the chairmanship of the then Labour minister B. R. Ambedkar and
there it was agreed upon to construct a multipurpose river valley project on the
river Mahanadi at Hirakud. Thus the name of Hirakud a non-descript town was
reflected on the world map for the construction of a world famous dam.

Thereupon Hirakud town became a hub of industries. Under the industrial

development corporation Ltd. Simultaneously there industries sprang up namely
Hirakud Re-rolling mills, Hirakud industrial works and Hira cables, other industries
like Alind (Aluminum industries) and Indal (Indian Aluminum company),
subsequently taken over by HindalCo developed.

Twenty three long years have elapsed and lot of flood water has flowed through
the sluice gates of the dam, but suffice it to say there has been a little progress
in the field of higher education in this world famous town. Yet self conscientious
denizens were not rare who made up their minds to invest their efforts to open
an institution that would cater to the needs of pursuing higher education for the
students of the locality.
It was under the aegis of a maverick personality like late Dr. J. k. Sahu minister
Urban Development and Excise, Government of Odisha a public meeting was
held on 22nd January 1979. People from different walks of life attended the
meeting. After much deliberation and confabulation it was unanimously decided
to start a college at Hirakud from the next academy session.

Accordingly a committee of 31 members was formed. The day of deliverance

came on 11th july 1979. The brain child of hirakud public hirakud college hirakud
took its shape. The college was housed in an abandoned building of all officers
training school. Catering to the need of the students in pursing higher education
it offered subjects in Arts and Commerce streams with Honors. Teaching facility
in the under graduate level. Student's enrollment strength increased day by day
but the infrastructure bottleneck became a great hindrance in the teaching and
learning process of the students and staff as will.

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