Kanpur
Kanpur, is a metropolis in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The greater metropolis is divided into two districts: the urban district of Kanpur Nagar and the rural district of Kanpur Dehat'.
The city is famous for its leather and textile industries. It is the 12th most populous city and the 11th most populous urban agglomeration in India. It is also the second largest city proper and the largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Kanpur was an important British garrison town until 1947, when India gained independence. The urban district of Kanpur Nagar serves as the headquarters of the Kanpur Division, Kanpur Range and Kanpur Zone.
On the west bank of the Ganges River, it is a major trade and commercial centre in North India, with the first woolen mill of India, commonly known as the Lal Imli' by the British India Corporation established here in 1876 by Alexander MacRobert. The eastern and northern facades of the mill are reminiscent of the Palace of Westminster, due to their architecture, proximity to the Ganges river and with the north-east corner of the mill being topped by a clock tower similar to that of the iconic Big Ben in London. This similarity cements the city's importance and prestige during the British times, which extends till date; making the Lal Imli — a great highlight of the city. The city is also widely regarded as the "Leather City of the World" and is predominantly nicknamed as the "Manchester of the East", with some versions going as: the "Manchester of India"'' — a title shared with other British industrial hubs of their time – cities like Ahmedabad and Surat; mostly for its textile industries.
According to 2011 Indian census, it is the eleventh most populous urban city while the population of city and its suburb were around 5 million making it the eighth-most populous metropolitan area in India. Furthermore, it is considered the world's most polluted city by particulate matter concentration. In 2018, Kanpur, was considered by the World Health Organization as the city with the world's worst air pollution.
History
In 1207, Raja Kanh Deo of the Kanhpuria clan established the village of Kanhpur, which later came to be known as Kanpur.1857 uprising
In the 19th century, Cawnpore was an important British garrison with barracks for 7,000 soldiers. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, 900 British men, women and children 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.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, on purpose, placed the boats as high in the mud as possible, 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.
Many were killed and the remaining 200 British women and children were brought back to shore and sent to a building called the Bibighar. After some time, the commanders of the rebels decided to kill 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 18 July. 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 civilians caught in the area, including women, children and old men. The Cawnpore Massacre, as well as similar events elsewhere, were seen by the British as justification for unrestrained vengeance. "Remember Cawnpore" became a war cry for British for the rest of the rebellion.
Metropolitan area
The metropolitan region defined under JNNURM by Kanpur Nagar Nigam, includes the Kanpur Nagar Nigam area, 8 kilometres 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, on 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, Unnao Municipal Committee, Akbarpur Village Authority and Bithoor Village Authority area. In 1997–98, total metropolitan region area has increased to 89131.15 hectare out of which 4,743.9 hectare was non-defined and rest 29,683 hectare and 54,704 hectare was urban and rural area respectively.Climate
Kanpur has a dry-winter humid subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification.Demographics
As per the provisional results of 2011 census, Kanpur city has a population of 2,767,031. The literacy rate was 84.14 per cent and sex ratio was 842. The Kanpur urban agglomeration had a population of 2,920,067 with a literacy rate of 83.98% and a sex ratio of 842.There are 35 Parsis in Kanpur with their Fire Temple at The Mall.
Hinduism is a majority in Kanpur with sizeable minority of Muslims. Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists are below 2 percent.
Administration and Politics
Administration
General administration
which consists of seven districts, and is headed by the divisional commissioner of Kanpur, who is an Indian Administrative Service officer of high seniority, the commissioner is the head of local government institutions in the division, is in charge of infrastructure development in his division, and is also responsible for maintaining law and order in the division. The district magistrate of Kanpur reports to the divisional commissioner. The current commissioner is Pradeep Kumar Mohanty.Kanpur district administration is headed by the district magistrate of Kanpur, who is an IAS officer. The DM is in charge of property records and revenue collection for the central government and oversees the elections held in the city. The DM is also responsible for maintaining law and order in the city. The DM is assisted by a chief development officer; four additional district magistrates for finance/revenue, city, land acquisition, and civil supply; one city magistrat; and seven additional city magistrates. The district has three tehsils viz. Sadar, Bilhaur and Ghatampur, each headed by a sub-divisional magistrate. The current DM is Vijay Vishwas Pant.
Police administration
Kanpur district comes under the Kanpur Police Zone and Kanpur Police Range, Kanpur Zone is headed by an additional director general-ranked Indian Police Service officer, and the Kanpur Range is headed inspector general-ranked IPS officer. The current ADG, Kanpur Zone is Avanish Chandra, and IG, Kanpur Range is Alok Singh.The district police is headed by a deputy inspector general/senior superintendent of police, who is an IPS officer, and is assisted by seven superintendents of police or additional superintendents of police for east, west, south, rural area, crime, traffic and modern control, who are either IPS officers or Provincial Police Service officers. Each of the several police circles is headed by a circle officer in the rank of deputy superintendent of police. The current DIG/SSP is Sonia Singh.
Civic Administration
The development of infrastructure in the city is overseen by Kanpur Development Authority, which comes under the Housing Department of Uttar Pradesh government. The divisional commissioner of Kanpur acts as the ex-officio Chairman of KDA, whereas a vice chairperson, a government-appointed IAS officer, looks after the daily matters of the authority. The current vice-chairman of Kanpur Development Authority is K. Vijayendra Pandian. The Kanpur Municipal Corporations oversees civic activities in the city, the head of the corporation is the mayor, but the executive and administration of the corporation are the responsibility of the municipal commissioner, who is an Uttar Pradesh government-appointed Provincial Civil Service officer of high seniority. The current mayor of Kanpur is Captain Jagat Vir Singh Drona, whereas the municipal commissioner is Avinash Singh.Judiciary
The Kanpur District Court is headed by the district judge of Kanpur, who is assisted by numerous additional district judges, civil judges and additional civil judges. Kanpur is a notified metropolitan area by UP Government under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and therefore has a chief metropolitan magistrate, who is assisted by several metropolitan magistrates. The current district judge is Shashi Kant Shukla, and the current chief metropolitan magistrate is Shabistan Aquil.Politics
Kanpur Nagar district encompasses one Lok Sabha constituency and ten Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha constituencies. The current member of parliament in Lok Sabha for Kanpur is Satyadev Pachauri.Transport
AirwaysGanesh Shankar Vidyarthi Airport has scheduled commercial flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and other cities of India. The nearest International Airport is the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, which is around 77.1 km from Kanpur.
Railways
Kanpur Central is a major railhead and is among the busiest railway stations in the country. Rail routes connect it to all major cities in the state and the country. It is an A-1 category railway station coming under the Allahabad railway division of North Central Railway zone of Indian Railways. Around 300 trains pass through the station daily. Other major railway stations serving the city include Kanpur Anwarganj, Govindpuri, Panki, Kalianpur, Rawatpur, Chandari, Kanpur Bridge and Chakeri.
Roadways
The city has had chronic problems with maintaining local roads. There are several important National Highways that pass through Kanpur.
| NH No | Route | Total Length |
| NH 2 | Delhi » Mathura » Agra » Kanpur » Allahabad » Varanasi » Mohania » Barhi » Palsit » Dankuni | 2542 |
| NH 25 | Lucknow » Kanpur » Jhansi | 352 |
| NH 86 | Kanpur » Hamirpur » Mahoba » Chhatarpur » Sagar » Bhopal » Indore | 674 |
| NH 91 | Ghaziabad » Aligarh » Etah » Kannauj » Kanpur | 405 |
| NH 157 | Kanpur » Raebareli » Sultanpur » Shahganj » Azamgarh » Gaura Barhaj » Siwan » Muzaffarpur | 581 |
The UPSRTC Inter State Bus Station of Kanpur officially named as the "Shaheed Major Salman Khan Bus Station". It is locally known as the "Jhakarkati Bus Station". It provides buses to important cities of India. Other UPSRTC controlled Important Bus stations are Chunniganj Bus Stand for Farrukhabad, Bareilly and Uttranchal routes, Naubasta Bus Stand for Hamirpur route, Fazalganj is another hub for Private carriers.
Ring road
In 2011 it was reported by The Indian Express that "The National Highways Authority of India is all set to develop a four-lane outer ring road along the periphery of Kanpur with an aim to prevent traffic congestion in the industrial city caused by long-distance heavy vehicles. The new road, which will help the heavy vehicles to bypass the city, will be developed on Built, Operate and Transfer basis under the phase-VII of National Highways Development Programme "
Kanpur Metro
Kanpur Metro is an under construction rail based mass transit system in the city of Kanpur, India which shall further be extendable to Kanpur metropolitan area. The work of the first metro depot is 70 percent complete.