Kanpur features an atypical version of a humid subtropical climate that resembles the climate of Delhi to some degree. Unlike many other cities with a humid subtropical climate, Kanpur features long and very hot summers, mild and relatively short winters, dust storms and a monsoon season. Kanpur lies in northern plains of India, which witness extremes of temperature. It can drop to a minimum of 0.0°C in the winters while it goes up to 48°C in summers. Kanpur experiences severe fog in December and January, resulting in massive traffic and travel delays. In summer excessive dry heat is accompanied by dust storms and Loo, traits more commonly seen in desert climates. Rains appear between July and September almost at the end of regular monsoon season. Some rainfall is recorded during the harvest season of March–April. These extremes however, give the region an advantage of having three crops of versatile range of products. Best time to visit Kanpur is either October–November or February–March.Snowfall has never occurred in the city. There are some times Hailstones accompanied with rain in the winter season during the month of January but sometimes Hailstorms have also occurred in the months of March and April. In January 2002,the city witnessed a heavy hailstorm which left the city streets white with ice pieces and recently in 2009 when the last hailstorm was recorded. Dust storms are frequent during the months of April–June.These dust storms are sometimes accompanied with light drizzles. Such dusty winds raise the level of particulates in the atmosphere resulting in severe air pollution and increasing health hazards. Sometimes the speed of winds exceeds to more than 100 km/hr in the outer areas of the city. Kanpur City lies on the right bank of the river Ganges, which is elevated very high from the river, which is the reason that the city never floods. Some of the rural outskirts of the city lie on the flood prone areas of the Ganges, and it often floods the villages on its banks during the monsoon season. The Left bank sandy areas on the banks of the Ganges are cultivated to produce summer fruits like Watermelon. The dry and Hot Loo winds help the growth of watermelon which results in its great yield. The average rainfall recorded in the city is 885 mm.
Kanpur was a hotbed of change in the independence and literary movements during the first half of the 20th century. A popular shopping centre is named Navin Market, after the poet Bal Krishna Sharma aka “Navin”. Later poets included Gopal Das “Niraj” who wrote songs for Hindi films. Kanpur is also the birthplace of Shyamlal Gupta ‘Parshad’, composer of the famous ditty Vijayee Vishwa Tiranga Pyara. The propagation and popularisation of Hindi also owes much to this city, with great Hindu literatteurs such as Acharya Mahavir Parasad Dwivedi, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Pratap Narain Mishra and Acharya Gaya Prasad Shukla `Sanehi’. The Agricultural University is named after the revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad and the Medical College after Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi; both men spent much time in Kanpur. While Chandrashekhar ‘Azad’ shot himself when surrounded by a huge posse of British soldiers at Alfred Park, Allahabad, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was killed during the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1931 at Machli Bazar in Kanpur. About 25 km from Kanpur is Bithoor(Brahmavarta). Legend goes that Sita, the wife of Lord Rama came to live at the ashram of sage Valmiki, after Rama expelled her from Ayodhya. It was here that she gave birth to the twins Lava (Ramayana) and Kusha (Ramayana), and disappeared back into the earth (from where she was born) when confronted by a repentant Rama. Bithoor is also the site of the fort to which Nana Sahib escaped following the British retaking of Kanpur. Today, Bithoor is a tourist spot on the banks of the River Ganges and Kanpur is expanding very fast with new residential complexes sprouting up everywhere. Among festivals Ganga Mela is a unique festival that is celebrated in Kanpur, 5 days after the festival Holi. Colours are thrown and people greet each other before having a dip in the sacred Ganges. Music, dance and poem recitation are organised in the evening. The festival is celebrated in the memories of revolutionaries released by British government who were held prisoners during the 1857 revolution.
Kanpur has been a centre of education as many prominent universities and colleges are situated here. The world renowned institute in the field of science and technology IIT Kanpur, established in 1959, is situated on Grand Trunk Road. Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI) is Kanpur’s oldest technical institute situated in Nawabganj. Kanpur also boasts of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College ( GSVM Medical College ) which is one of the best medical colleges in the country. Chatrapati Shahau Ji Maharaj University formerly Kanpur University offers courses in various departments at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kanpur University, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttar Pradesh Textile Technology Institute, Government Leather Institute formerly known as Government Leather Working School, Indian Institute of Pulses Research, National Sugar Institute, Institute of Productivity & Management, Government Polytechnic, Brahmanand Degree College, vssd Degree College, PPN Degree College, DAV Degree College, Halim Muslim Degree College, BNSD College, Christ Church College are some of the popular educational institutions of Kanpur city. There are more than 70 Agricultural, Degree, Engineering, Management and Medical colleges in Kanpur. Also in the city we have Central India Regional Council of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Apart from these there are various renowned schools (pre-primary to class XII). The oldest running is Methodist High School, Cantt. Kanpur, operating since 1876.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said setting up a high-tech city will boost development in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh was heading a meeting to discuss the details of a proposed high-tech industrial city in Kanpur, to be built on the public private partnership model. The industrial city, proposed on 1,132 acres of land in the Trans-Ganga area of Kanpur, will be an enclosed area, UPSIDC top brass said, which will be built along the Ganga. The project, officials said, will also be equipped with underground wiring, cabling, gas and water supply, apart from optical fibre lines, among other amenities. Apart from 28 to 35 floor multi-storeyed buildings, the proposed project, a UPSIDC presentation made to the chief minister said, will also accommodate a 300 acre park. Buildings in the proposed industrial city, the government said, would house a wide variety of industries ranging from IT and IT enabled services, business process outsourcing, financial institutions and hotels, among others. According to the government proposal, the industrial city in Kanpur will also contain an exposition mart for auto companies and the leather and handicraft industries, apart from sewage and effluent treatment plants for residential and industrial buildings, respectively. To be built along the lines of buildings in Chandigarh, residential buildings in the proposed industrial city will be back facing, while the facades will be built in glass. Senior UPSIDC officials also said proposed projects would have provisions for water recycling.
Nestling on the banks of the River Ganges, Kanpur stands as one of North India’s major industrial centres with its own historical, religious and commercial importance. Believed to have been founded by king Hindu Singh of the erstwhile state of Sachendi, Kanpur was originally known as “Kanhpur”. Historically, Jajmau on the eastern outskirts of present day Kanpur, is regarded as one of the most archaic townships of Kanpur district. Up to the first half of the 18th century, Kanpur continued to survive as an insignificant village. Its fate, however, took a new turn soon after. In May 1765, Shuja-ud-daula, the Nawab Wazir of Awadh, was defeated by the British near Jajmau. It was probably at this time that strategic importance of the site of Kanpur was realised by the British. European businessmen had by this time gradually started establishing themselves in Kanpur. In order to ensure protection to their lives and property, the “Awadh local forces” were shifted here in 1778. Kanpur passed into British hands under the treaty of 1801 with Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh. This forms a turning point in the history of Kanpur. Soon Kanpur became one of the most important military stations of British India. It was declared a district on 24 March 1803.
The first Indian business house of Cawnpore was the firm NihalChand KishoriLal, which set up a trading facility in 1857. This firm was a leader in oil milling and had many oil mills spread across North India. The NihalChand KishoriLal group (also known as Kejriwal Group) over time diversified into flour milling, tea plantations and steel. They bought the Cawnpore Flour Mills in 1942, which had been established in 1886 by Edward Foy, a Scotsman. The Juggilal Kamlapat Singhania family launched many factories between 1930 and 1970. The Jaipuria family contributed to the patriotic cause, by building the Swadeshi Cotton Mills in response to charges that the foreign rulers were raiding India of its cotton only to sell back textiles to the residents. The first steel re-rolling mill of India was established at Singh Engineering which later became one of the nations largest re-rolling mills. Kanpur was known as the “Manchester of India” during the 20th century. In 1901, with a population of 1,258,868, second only to Allahabad, the district headquarters, Kanpur was the largest trading and manufacturing centre in the United Provinces
Kanpur is situated on the banks of the river Ganges; the population was 2,551,337 as per the 2001 census. In the last decade, the population rose rapidly. One of the factors for this kind of growth can be a higher number of in-migration to Kanpur City from other areas. Languages spoken in and around Kanpur include Hindi, English, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi. Hinduism is the most prominent religion in the city. There is a considerable number of Muslims mostly residing near Kanpur Central station and areas namely Chaman Ganj, Becon Ganj, Parade,Nai Sarak, Bansmandi,Iftikharabad, Gwaltoli and Idgah colony, KDA colony Jajmau and Moti nagar. The Sikh community consists of immigrants who were displaced due to the Partition of India in 1947. They have since well established business in the city and reside in areas such as Govind Nagar, Gumti No.5,Jawahar Nagar Ashok Nagar and 80 ft road. There are a small number of Christians also in Kanpur. Christ Church College and Methodist High School reflect British architecture.
Though controversy surrounds what exactly happened at the Satti Chaura Ghat, and who fired the first shot, it is known that soon afterwards, the departing British were shot at, by the rebel sepoys, and were either killed or captured. Some of the British officers later claimed that the rebels had placed the boats as high in the mud as possible, on purpose to cause delay. They also claimed that Nana Sahib’s camp had previously arranged for the rebels to fire upon and kill all the English. Although the East India Company later accused Nana Sahib of betrayal and murder of innocent people, no evidence has ever been found to prove that Nana Sahib had pre-planned or ordered the massacre. Some historians believe that the Satti Chaura Ghat massacre was the result of confusion, and not of any plan implemented by Nana Sahib and his associates. Lieutenant Mowbray Thomson, one of the four male survivors of the massacre, believed that the rank-and-file sepoys who spoke to him did not know of the killing to come.
The metropolitan region defined under JNNURM by Kanpur Nagar Nigam, includes the Kanpur Nagar Nigam area, 8 kilometer around KNN boundary and newly included 47 villages of Unnao district on the north-eastern side, it extends to Murtaza Nagar, in the west its limit is up to Akbarpur, Kanpur Dehat Nagar Panchayat limit, in the eastern side the limit has been expanded on the road leading to Fatehpur and in extended up to. The metropolitan region area includes the area of Shuklaganj Municipal Committee (nagar palika), Unnao Municipal Committee (nagar palika), Akbarpur Village Authority (nagar panchayat) and Bithoor Village Authority (nagar panchayat) area. In 1997-98, total metropolitan region area has increased to 89131.15 hectare out of which 4,743.9 hectare (5.31%) was non-defined (prohibited area) and rest 29,683 hectare and 54,704 hectare (61.39%) was urban and rural area respectively.
Kanpur’s development is unclear until the 13th century. Although no reference to Kanpur is found in written documents before this time, the history of two of its suburbs, Jajmau and Bithoor, can be traced back to pre-13th century times. Bithoor is located about 20 km upstream from the city and is approximately 10 km from the IIT Kanpur campus. Jajmau is about 8 km east of the city and is nearly 20 km downstream from the IIT Campus. According to Hindu mythology, just after creating the universe, Lord Brahma performed the Ashvamedha at Bithoor and established a lingam there. Another legendary site at Bithoor is the Valmiki Ashram, where the famous sage Valmiki is supposed to have written the Sanskrit epic, the Ramayana. According to this epic, Queen Seeta, on being exiled by King Ramachandra of Ayodhya, spent her days in seclusion at the ashram bringing up her twin sons, Lava and Kush.
Many were killed and the remaining 200 British women and children were brought back to shore and sent to a building called the Bibighar (the ladies’ home). After some time, the commanders of the rebels decided to execute their hostages. The rebel soldiers refused to carry out orders, and butchers from the nearby town were brought in to kill the hostages three days before the British entered the city on July 18. The dismembered bodies were thrown into a deep well nearby. The British under General Neill retook the city and committed a series of retaliations against the rebel Sepoys and those unfortunate civilians caught in the area, including women, children and old men. The Kanpur Massacre, as well as similar events elsewhere, were seen by the British as justification for unrestrained vengeance.
In its city centre, Kanpur or the Mall is situated near Civil Lines area. The area consists of varieties of buildings. It is the major economic centre of Kanpur. The area is of 10 km sq. and has a population of around 200,000. The renovation of city centre is carried under by JNNURM and Kanpur Municipal Corporation. Recently, musical fountains and expending of the Mall Road has taken place. Activities like protecting of old buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries has taken place in the area. The Reserve Bank of India, BSNL, SBI, Standard Chartered Bank, LIC, headquarters, Z SQUARE MALL are situated here. There are varieties of shops, buildings and hotels situated here. The pincode of the area is 208001. The area is also home to Green Park which was one of India’s 5 cricket test centres.
After 1857, it became an important center of the leather and textile industries. The Government Harness and Saddler Factory was started in 1860 to supply the army with leather products, followed by Cooper Allen & Co. in 1880. The first cotton textile mill, the Elgin Mills, was started in 1862 and Muir Mills in 1882, and many others that followed in the next 40 years, such as Victoria Mills and Atherton West & Co. (Atherton Mills), made Cawnpore a major textile producer. The Elgin Mills of Cawnpore was famous for its Drill Khakhi during the early/mid Twentieth Century. The Khaki cloth was famous for its colour and durability. The man behind this was the Dyeing Master Gopal Sadashiv Gogate, who died on 17 December 1942.
The British dismantled the Bibighar and raised a memorial railing and a cross at the site of the well. In 1862, they built a church called All Souls’ Cathedral in memory of those killed; renamed the Kanpur Memorial Church. This Church still stands at what was the northeast corner of Wheeler’s entrenchment. The marble gothic screen with the famous `mournful seraph’ was transferred to the churchyard after independence in 1947, and in its place a bust of Tantya Tope installed at Nana Rao Park. The well is now bricked over, but the remains of a circular ridge and ‘Boodha Bargad’ (Old Banyan Tree) are still there. The “Boodha Bargad” is not there anymore. Only a stone describing the Boodha Bargad is there.
One of Kanpur’s major bus terminals is Shahid Major Salman Khan bus station at Jhakarkatti. Another important bus station is at Rawatpur. Earlier, another bus terminal operated at Govind Puri, directly in front of the main railway station, but this has now been reestablished as a city bus station. The move was taken to remove congestion in front of the railway station. Kanpur Lucknow Roadways Service is a very important service for commuters. The cities outside Uttar Pradesh that are covered by bus service are Jaipur, New Delhi, Gwalior, Bharatpur, Singrauli, Faridabad, Gurgaon Sagar and Dausa.
In May 1765, Shuja-ud-daula, the Nawab of Awadh, was defeated by the British near Jajmau. From 1773 to 1801, it was part of the Oudh kingdom and then came into the hands of the British. At this time, the British realized the strategic importance of the site of Kanpur. European businessmen had, by this time, started establishing themselves in Kanpur. In order to ensure protection for their lives and property, the European business shifted the `Awadh local forces’ here in 1778. Kanpur passed into British hands under the treaty of 1801 with Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh.
Kanpur has several locational advantages, i.e., location at a vantage point on four national highways, i.e., NH 2, NH-86, NH-91 and NH 25; raw material availability for many industries, viz. leather, food processing, plastics etc., proximity to large markets, availability of skilled manpower due to various institutes located within Kanpur (viz. Indian Institute of Technology, Chandr Shekhar Azad Agricultural University, Central Pulse Research Institute, Leather Institute etc.) and existing traditional industrial base attracting skilled workers to the city.
The suburban bus service is run by Kanpur upnagariya parivahan sewa. Its fleet is around 120 buses. These buses cater the need of suburban towns and tehsils in Kanpur and neighbouring districts. Suburban services is from Shahid Major Salman Khan Bus Station and Rawatpur. Towns connected by Shahid Major Salman Khan Bus Station are Unnao, Fatehpur, Akbarpur, Jajmau, Chakeri, Sarsaul, Maharajpur. Towns connected by Bithoor are Bilhaur, Mandhana, Chobepur, Shivrajpur, nayi jail. It is a division of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation.
Considering that by 2031 Kanpur Metropolitan Area will cross a population of 50 lakhs and the pressure it will put on the existing transport system in the city, it is proposed to carry out a study and if feasible, introduce Metro Rail facility under JNNURM in phase –II. This would ease out the traffic problems of the present and future overload the pressure of traffic on the roads of Kanpur city. However, in the absence of any feasibility study, no money has been earmarked in Phase -II for this activity.
In the 19th century, Kanpur was an important British garrison with barracks for 7,000 soldiers. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, (known in the United Kingdom as the Indian Mutiny, known in India as the First War of Independence), 900 British were besieged in the fortifications for 22 days by rebels under Nana Sahib Peshwa. They surrendered on the agreement that they would get safe passage to the nearby Satti Chaura Ghat whereupon they would board barges and be allowed to go by river to Allahabad.