Send Flowers to Meerut

Meerut has a monsoon influenced humid subtropical climate characterised by very hot summers and cool winters. Summers last from early April to late June during and are extremely hot, with temperatures reaching 43 °C (109 °F). The monsoon arrives in late June and continues till the middle of September. Temperatures drop slightly, with plenty of cloud cover but with higher humidity. Temperatures rise again in October and the city then has a mild, dry winter season from late October to the middle of March Lowest temperature recorded is 0.5 °C (32.9 °F). Rainfall is about 80 cm to 100 cm per annum, which is suitable for growing crops. Most of the rainfall is received during the monsoon. Humidity varies from 30 to 100%. The city receives no snow.

According to the 2001 census, the city ranked 6th in terms of population density in Uttar Pradesh. The city also ranked 2nd in terms of population in NCR. Males constituted 53.43% of the population and females 46.56%. The city had an average literacy rate of 65.96%, higher than the national average of 64.8% and the state average of 57.36%. Male literacy was 76.31%, and female literacy was 54.12%. 16.66% of the population was under 6 years of age. Meerut has one of the largest Muslim populations among the cities of India (close to 32.5%). It is the largest Muslim city in Uttar Pradesh. The city had a sex ratio of 871, lower than the state average of 898 and the national average of 933.

During this revolt, Meerut leapt into international prominence, when on 24 April 1857 eighty-five of the ninety troopers of the 3rd Cavalry refused to touch the cartridges and after court-martial were sentenced to ten years imprisonment. On Sunday, 10 May 1857, Kotwal Dhan Singh Gurjar opened the gates of the prison. These soldiers, along with other imprisoned soldiers escaped prison and declared themselves free, revolted, attacked and killed several of the British authorities to take the city in their control. This marked the beginning of a widespread revolt across northern India as these soldiers marched towards Delhi. 10 May is still celebrated as a local holiday in Meerut.

Meerut is famously associated with the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company. The famous slogan “Dilli Chalo” (“Let’s march to Delhi!”) was first raised here. Meerut cantonment is the place where the rebellion started when Hindu and Muslim soldiers were given rifle cartridges rumoured to have a coating made of animal fat. The bullet wrapping was to be opened by mouth before use, which affected the religious sensibilities of both Muslims and Hindus as the fat used was alleged to be derived from lard and tallow; cows are held sacred by Hindus and Muslims consider the pig unclean. Meerut soldiers set fire to the bungalows of the English.

Meerut Cantonment was established by the British East India Company in 1803 after the Battle of Laswari. It is the second largest cantonment of India both in land area (3568.06 hectares) and population (90521 people as per 2001 census). The Revolt of 1857 started from “Kali Paltan” in Meerut Cantonment and Indian soldiers stationed here actively participated in the rebellian. The cantonment surrounds the city from 3 sides – from Pallavpuram to Sainik Vihar to Ganga Nagar. It is well connected with the rest of country by roads as well as by rail. The Delhi Niti Paas Road (State Highway No. 45) passes through Meerut Cantonment.

Notable people from Meerut in the film and television industry include Bharat Bhushan, Mandakini, Achint Kaur, Arun Govil, Kailash Kher, Chitrangada Singh, Vishal Bhardwaj and Deepti Bhatnagar. There is also a training college for film and television located in the city.Er.Nityanand `Tushar`, kumar vishwas (poet),prof.p.k.arya(author and tv anchor) Raja Choudhary and Pravesh Rana are new joins to the group and apart of this there are a few international cricket Players who hails from meerut naming Praveen Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi and Bhuvnesh Kumar

The office of the Chief Commissioner, Customs & Central Excise, Meerut Zone, has jurisdiction over 13 districts of Uttrakhand and 14 districts of Uttar Pradesh. This jurisdiction was carved out of the Lucknow Zone. It comprises the erstwhile Customs & Central Excise Commissionerates of Meerut & Noida. The Meerut Commissionerate was bifurcated into two Commissionerates, namely, ‘Meerut-I and Ghaziabad’ and the Noida Commissionerate was bifurcated into ‘Noida and Meerut-II’. In addition, jurisdiction of Central Excise Division Bareilly was included in the jurisdiction of Meerut-II Commissionerate.

Shahpeer’s Mausoleum – This is a Mughal mausoleum erected by the empress Nur Jahan in 1620 in honour of a local Muslim Hazrat Shahpeer. It is a red stone structure that was partly built and is incomplete till date. The tomb is adorned by intricate nakashi (stone painting). There is no roof on the main tomb. People say that Shahpeer was the teacher of Mughal Emperor Jehangir. The tomb is listed by the Archaeological Survey of India as a national heritage monument. Shahpeer gate was built in 1829 by a local Jagirdar “Raja Ji”.

Meerut also contained a Harappan settlement known as Alamgirpur. It was also the easternmost settlement of the Indus valley civilisation. Meerut had been a centre of Buddhism in the period of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (r. 273 BC to 232 BC.), and remains of Buddhist structures were found near the Jama Masjid in the present day city. The Ashoka Pillar, at Delhi ridge, next to the ‘Bara Hindu Rao Hospital’, near Delhi University, was carried to Delhi from Meerut, by Firuz Shah Tughluq (r. 1351–1388); it was later damaged in a 1713 explosion, and restored in 1867.

Meerut City is the headquarters of Meerut district which, according to the 2011 census, has a population of around 3.4 million. Males constitute 53.06% of the population and females 46.94%. The percentage decadal growth in 2001–2011 stands at 15.92%. The sex ratio in Meerut is 885, lower than the state average of 908; while the child sex ratio is 850, lower than the state average of 899. 14.16% of the population is under 6 years of age. The district has a density of 1347 persons/km 2. The overall literacy rate is 74.80%, higher than the state average of 69.72%.

Meerut was also the venue of the controversial Meerut Conspiracy Case in March 1929, in which several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organising Indian-rail strike. This immediately caught attention back in England, inspired the 1932 play titled Meerut Prisoners, by Manchester street theatre group, the ‘Red Megaphones’, highlighting the detrimental effects of colonisation and industrialisation In the 1940s, Meerut cinemas had a “Don’t Move” policy during playing of the British national anthem.

Meerut it is the headquarter of NCR Zone and upwest zone A of Police. An ADG and a secretary level IAS officer cover west U.P.zone. Both the officers look after the legal and developmental condition and system of Western Uttar Pradesh from Meerut for 6 Division of western Uttar Pradesh, namely Meerut, Agra, Bareily Moradabad, Saharanpur and Aligarh under West Zone, and Meerut Division with Saharanpur is in NCR Zone. A DIG looks after Meerut for legal condition and law, Commissioner also looks for 6 district of Meerut Division.

Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, Sardhana Gandhi Bagh – This centrally located garden has a very beautiful and serene environment. Locally known as “Company Garden”, it has been present since before independence, when it got renamed to its current name. It runs a musical fountain show every evening. Earlier, the garden used to have multiple entrances like the one shown on the right, which were always kept open, and there was no entry fee. But now, only one entrance is kept open and a ticketing system with nominal charges has been put in place.

The city and district also suffered from communal riots in 1984 and riots in 1982 and in 1987, during which the Hashimpura massacre took place, in May 1987, when personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) allegedly shot dead 42 Muslims, the trial of the case is still pending. In 2006, a fire at a consumer electronics “Brand India” fair in Victoria Park Stadium killed over 100 people. But, according to some unofficial sources, the number of affected people is pegged at more than 200.

Meerut has shown healthy numbers in terms of revenue generation. In 2005–06, Meerut occupied the fifth slot and contributed Rs 10,306 crore to the direct tax collection. It slipped to number six in 2006–07 when the revenue collection at Rs 11,203 crore was 18% lower than the target of Rs 13,627 crore. According to statistics compiled by the Income Tax department, Meerut contributed a Rs.10,089 crore to the national treasury in 2007/08, overall it was ranked 9th outperforming Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhopal, Kochi and Bhubaneshwar.

Meerut is one of the important industrial towns of western Uttar Pradesh. It is a rich agricultural area with such pockets of land that do not fit in for crop purpose. Being in the proximity of Delhi, it is ideal for industry. It is famous for handloom works and scissors industry from olden age. Meerut is home to 520 micro, small and medium scale industries. As of August 2006, Meerut has about 23,471 industrial units, including 15,510 small-scale units and 7,922 cottage industries.

Delhi-Meerut expressway is expected to be completed by 2013, although there have been several delays to this plan over the past decade. The Upper Ganga Canal Expressway is also under development. GAIL is also establishing its plant in Meerut and Muradnagar to supply cooking gas within the city. A five star hotel, in Greenwood City, at Baghpat road bypass crossing and a three star hotel at Delhi road near Rithani are under construction.

St. John’s Church – This church was established by Chaplin Reverend Henry Fisher on behalf of the East India Company in 1819 in the cantonment area and was completed in 1822. It is considered one of the oldest churches in North India. The Church was dedicated to the people by Bishop Wilson. It has a seating capacity of 10,000 people. During the war of 1857, this church was the scene of heavy fighting between Indians and the British forces.

The Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar airstrip is located at Partapur. It was proposed by the state government that the airstrip be converted to an international airport to reduce pressure on Delhi airport. However, Plans to expand the airstrip were called off after protests against land acquisition started in other parts of the state. Following an accident in May 2012, the city administration barred private flights from using the airstrip.

In the Ramayana, Shravan Kumar carried his feeble parents on his shoulders to all the pilgrimage sites in India, but it is believed that when he passed through Meerut, he put down his parents for a while to rest and drink. It was here that Lord Rama’s father, King Dasharatha, mistook Shravan Kumar for a deer and accidentally. Shravan Kumar’s parents cursed the king that he too would die due to separation from his son as they died.