The city previously called Sarwat and is located in the middle of the highly fertile upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab region and is very near to New Delhi and Saharanpur, making it one of the most developed and prosperous cities of Uttar Pradesh. It comes under the Saharanpur division. This city is part of Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and Amritsar Delhi Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC). It shares its border with the state of Uttarakhand and it is the principal commercial, industrial and educational hub of Western Uttar Pradesh.
History
The earliest settlers of Muzaffarnagar and the region around it were Brahmins and Rajputs, followed by later migrations of Jat and Gurjar tribes.[4] The town was established in 1633 by the son of a Mughal Commander Sayyid Muzaffar Khan Barha, otherwise known as Khan-i-Jahan,[5] during the reign of Shah Jahan. At the time Muzaffarnagar was part of the Barah country as it was intimately connected with the Indian Muslim kinship group called the Barah Sayyids,[4] who controlled the upper Doab.[6][7] From Muzaffarnagar, the influential Sayyid brothers became de-facto rulers of the Mughal empire in the 1710s. The Indian Muslim inhabitants of Barha especially from near the town of Jansath were heavily recruited in the Mughal army and in the personal cavalry of the Sayyid Brothers.[8]
Shamli and adjoining Muzaffarnagar districts are considered sensitive ever since large-scale communal violence erupted in August and September 2013. More than 50 people had died and over 50,000 were rendered homeless ... The riot that ensued had engulfed many districts of western UP.[13]
Muzaffarnagar has a monsoon influenced humid subtropical climate characterised by much hot summers and cooler winters. Summers last from early April to late June and are extremely hot. The monsoon arrives in late June and continues until 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. June is the warmest month of the year.[citation needed]
The temperature in June averages 30.2 °C. In January, the average temperature goes to as low as 7 °C. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year. The average annual temperature in Muzaffarnagar is 24.2 °C. The highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded in Muzaffarnagar are 45 °C (113 °F) on 29 May 1994 and −2.6 °C (27.3 °F) on 23 December 1990 respectively. The rainfall averages 929 mm. The driest month is November, with 8 mm of rain. Highest precipitation falls in July, with an average of 261.4 mm.[citation needed]
Climate data for Muzaffarnagar (1981–2010, extremes 1981–2010)
As of the[update]2011 census, Muzaffar Nagar municipality had a population of 351,838[2] The municipality had a sex ratio of 897 females per 1,000 males and 12.01% of the population were under six years old.[2] Effective literacy was 85.16%; male literacy was 88.83% and female literacy was 81.05%.[2] The urban/metropolitan population is 494,792, of which 261,338 are males and 233,454 are females.[3]
The Khariboli dialect is the native tongue of the city which resembles the Haryanvi dialect of adjoining Haryana. The official languages of Hindi, Urdu and English are also widely understood.
Sugar and Muzaffarnagar jaggery production are important industries in the district. As a result of the farming activities around, the city is an important hub of jaggery trading business.[17]
Muzaffarnagar is an industrial city with sugar, steel and paper being the major industries. District Muzaffarnagar has 8 sugar mills. More than 40% of the region's population is engaged in agriculture. According to Economic Research firm Indicus Analytics, Muzaffarnagar has the highest agricultural GDP in Uttar Pradesh, as well as UP's largest granary.[citation needed]
Healthcare
Muzaffaranagar has both public and private healthcare system. The District hospital is the major government hospital in the city along with several general practitioners in the city. The city is also catered by a private medical college (Muzaffarnagar Medical College) on the outskirts of the city.
The National Highway - 58 (NH-58) passes through Muzaffarnagar city. This highway provides connections towards Delhi on the southern direction and upper reaches of the Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state in the northern direction. The highway is the backbone of road transportation for the Muzaffarnagar city as well as the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Cities and areas of Hardwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun as well as Badrinath and Kedarnath are served by this highway.[citation needed]
City transportation mostly consists of tricycles and 3-wheeled vehicles, rickshaws. An international airport, Muzaffarnagar International Airport, was proposed in the city in order to reduce the traffic at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, however, the same was transferred to the Jewar Airport.[citation needed]
Environmental concerns
Muzaffarnagar lies approximately halfway on the road from Delhi to Uttarakhand Rishikesh (the NH-58). As a result, many roadside resorts and eateries have sprung up on the highway near the city. Especially, the town of Khatauli is famed for its canal side forest park named "Cheetal". Once visited for the sight of deer and rabbits and other wild animals, the Cheetal is now encroached by privately owned dhabas and resorts thus sidelining the animals.[citation needed]