Unnao

The District is roughly a parallelogram in shape and lies between Latitude 26°8' N & 27°2' N and Longitude 80°3' E & 81°3' E. It is bounded on the North by District Hardoi, on the East by District Lucknow, on the South by District Rae Bareli and on the West by the Ganga which separates it from districts of Kanpur and Fatehpur.

The Ganga, Kalyani and Sai are the main rivers of the district, the former making its western and southern boundaries and the latter, for the greater part of its course, forming its northern and eastern boundaries. Among the other mainstreams of the district are Kalyani, the Tanai, the Loni and the Morahi (Naurahi), all tributaries of the Ganga. These rivers generally run dry during the hot weather, but hold water during the greater part of the year and are utilized for irrigation.

The only great river of the district is the Ganga which first touches the district near the village of Purwa Gahir, in pargana Bangarmau and flows south-eastward, separating this district from districts Kanpur and Fatehpur. Generally, it flows from north-west to the south-east, but it makes several sharp bends such as those near Umriya Bhagwantpur, and Rustampur in tehsil Safipur, Rautapur in tehsil Unnao and Ratua Khera and Duli Khera in tehsil Purwa. The Ganga receives the Morahi near Baksar where it flows close to its old high bank. It leaves the district at a short distance from Baksar.

The river is not, however, put to much use either as a waterway or as a source of irrigation. There are several ferries for pedestrians and pilgrims but none of them approaches what may be termed a trade route. The river cannot, as a rule, be utilised for irrigation owing to the height of the bank but certain of its small drainage channels or sotas, which run island for a considerable distance in some parganas, are sometimes used to irrigate crops grown in low-lying alluvial lands. Otherwise, cultivated lands lie at great distances and cannot be irrigated from the river whose water would, in order to irrigate these lands, have to be passed through the sands on the sides of the river, and in the process be greatly washed, if not altogether absorbed. The main channel of the river is subject to constant variation and the cultivation in its immediate neighbourhood is, therefore of a shifting kind.

It appears from its old high bank that the river has a general tendency to shift its course to the west. In the days of Akbar, the river skirted the village of Ghatampur but has since then so altered its course that it now runs about 8  km to the south-west of this village.

There is the unusually large number of swamps and lakes of great size and value, particularly in the southern and eastern parts of the district. The larger lakes, which hold water all the year round, are the Kundra Samundar near Jhalotar, the lake near Nawabganj, the wide expanse of water near Kantha and the long chain of lakes in pargana Mauranwan. In Tehsil Safipur, the more important tanks are those at Mawai-Bhari and Kursat and the Harial Tal near Mustafabad. In Tehsil Hasanganj, besides the Kundra Samundar at Mawai, there are the Kulli Bani and Jalesar tanks near Ajgain and the chain of lakes called Basaha, which it seems, partakes of certain characteristics of a stream also, travelling a distance of 96 km in the district and eventually leaving it for district Rae Bareli where it is reckoned as a tributary of the river Sai. In the western part of the Tehsil are the Katgari lake near Asiwan and the stretches of water at Amarpur, Sambha, Sheothana, Marenda & Asakhera, but in its northern and eastern parts, there are only small and very shallow tanks which dry up when rainfall is deficient. In Tehsil Unnao there are no important lakes, but a number of very shallow depressions, which get filled up with water during the rains and yield excellent crop of rice.

In Tehsil Purwa there are many lakes, situated in a well-defined belt stretching along the whole length of the tehsil. The main among them are the lakes at Kantha, Bhadain, Unchagaon, Qila, Akhori, Miri, Zorawarganj and Sarwan. The Barhna tank near Sagauli, the Mohan and Sukrar lakes near Mauranwan, and several others, like the Bharda lake, skirting district Rae Bareli. Besides these, there are the tanks at Sahrawan, the Bhundi tank at Gulariha, and the Kumbha tank at Bhagwantnagar. The lakes at Kantha, Sagauli, and Barela contain water all the year round, while the others generally provide irrigation for the Rabi crops only, drying up in the years of drought. These lakes and tanks abound in fish, and singhara (water chestnut) is very extensively grown in them.

Geologically the district forms part of the vast Indo-Gangetic alluvial tract, of which the origin is attributed to a sag in the Earth's crust, formed, in the upper eocene times, between the northwardly drifting Gondwanaland and the rising Himalayan belt, and gradually filled in by sediments so as to constitute a level plane with a very gentle seaward slope. The alluvium formation of the district, comprising sand, silt and clay with occasional gravel, is of the early quaternary to sub-recent age. The older alluvium called bhangar, forms slightly elevated terraces usually above the flood levels. It is rather dark in colour generally rich in concretions and nodules of impure calcium carbonate, locally known as kankar. The newer alluvium, called khandar, forming the lowlands between the Ganga and Bhangar, is light coloured, poor in calcareous contain and composed of lenticular beds of sand, gravel and clays. The economic minerals found in the district are kankar, reh and sand.

Unnao is famous for Panki - Goddess Sita gave birth to Luv and Kush here and also, the famous Ashv from the Ashwa megh Yagya was caught and tied to a tree here by Luv and Kush.

Unnao lies in the great plains of the Ganges and hence the land is highly fertile. The soil is mostly alluvial. The Ganges separates Unnao from Kanpur district. The district is bounded by river Ganges in the west and the river Sai in the east. The entire district falling in Sai Sub-basin of the Ganges basin represents flat topography. The irrigation in the district takes place through Sharda Canal network system and tubewells. About 92% of the district area is under cultivation.[4] The district has a subtropical climate. The district is mainly drained by the river Ganges and its tributaries Kalyani, Khar, Loni and Marahai in the western part of the district, and by Sai river in the eastern part of the district. All these rivers are perennial in nature. About 87% area of the net sown area (3,00,000 hectares) is irrigated both by surface water (Sharda Canal network system) and ground water through shallow and moderately deep tubewells. The share of surface water irrigation is 48% while that of ground water is 52%. The economy of the district mainly depends on agriculture.[4]

Unnao Railway Station

Unnao is seamlessly connected through Indian Railways. Unnao railway station is the junction point for Rae Bareli, Unchahar, Kunda Harnamganj, Prayag, Allahabad, Hardoi, Balamau situated at Lucknow-Kanpur stretch. Trains for major cities like Agra, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Vijaywada, Chennai, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak, Cuttak, Chennai, Chandigarh, Chitrakoot, Cochin, Delhi, Gorakhpur, Ernakulam, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu Tawi, Jhansi, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Panipat, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Darbhanga, Kota, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Puri, Surat, Trivandrum, Vadodara, Ujjain, Varanasi, Vadodara, can be boarded here. The railway stations in Unnao Urban Agglomeration are:-

• Unnao Railway Station- This is the major junction railway station in the city of Unnao and is connected to major cities of India with many express/mail trains.
• Magarwara Railway Station-This is a passenger/EMU train station in the industrial suburb of Magarwara.
• Sonik Railway Station-This is a railway station towards East of Unnao city near UPSIDC Industrial Area and has only passenger/EMU trains stoppage.
• Kanpur Bridge Left Bank Station- This is a station within the municipal limits of Shuklaganj, the twin city of Unnao and has only passenger/EMU stoppage.

Unnao will be the only railway station between Kanpur and Lucknow of the planned high speed railways.[8]

Unnao Bypass Gate near Nirala Nagar

The major national highway NH 25 passes through Unnao which has bypass from Unnao. The State Highway which is 78 km encompasses Unnao is in good condition. Lucknow-Agra Expressway India's longest access-controlled expressway passes through Unnao district. It is a six lane expressway. Ganga expressway will also pass through unnao which will enhance connectivity with national capital.[9]

The nearest airport is Kanpur Airport towards west (approx. 25 km) and Lucknow Airport towards east (approx. 50 km)

The city has transport likes auto-rickshaw and E-rickshaw (By-Pass to Tempo Stand (Kanpur), Pedal rickshaws and Sub Metropolitan city buses and economical cross overs like Endeavour, Scorpio, Innova, Bolero etc. which are privately run. Kanpur Metropolitan Bus Service has started operating fully air conditioned electric buses from Unnao Taxi stand (Gandhi nagar tiraha) to Kanpur Bada chauraha via Magawara and Shuklaganj which will help in fast transit from unnao to kanpur. [10]