Kanpur, the once bustling industrial city with a labour workforce of lakhs, is in a dilemma today. It cannot shed its image of a former major manufacturing hub in north-central India, and yet it is no better than a small town forced to become big because of sheer population.

Once a picture of prosperity and urban well-being with a glorious role in India’s freedom struggle, Kanpur has seen it all. A string of mega textile mills, engineering and chemicals manufacturing made it the most favoured destination of migrating population from entire Uttar Pradesh and even Bihar and West Bengal. Today, the city does not seem to know where it is headed. With the trappings of an ordinary small town having a flourishing service sector and small industries, the baton of industries is carried only by a handful of players who have a strong loyalty to this city.

The Lal Imli factory building a few kilometres away from the city centre stands as an icon of Kanpur’s glory. With a 128-foot high clock tower and a British era clock, the red brick building is a reminder that for the British, this city was the hub of industrial activity in north-central India, but in subsequent years, other contemporary interests such as caste and political one-upmanship took over.

What exactly happened in Kanpur that has turned the quality of life in this once vibrant city so pathetic? What happened to all those mega industries that had once earned Kanpur the much-touted sobriquet the ‘Manchester of the East’?

Among the eight textile mills that have closed down are Elgin Mills, Lal Imli (partially), Swadeshi Mills and the National Textile Corporation (NTC) mill. The British-era textile mills had been taken over by the British India Corporation (BIC), a government of India company, years ago. The central government recently approved the revival packages for Elgin and Lal Imli but that has not helped improve the situation in any significant manner.

Among other major economic activities in Kanpur are leather processing units, fertilisers and chemicals and engineering firms. But there are dozens of small- and medium-scale enterprises producing spices, stationery, plastic, fabrication items and processed food. The service sector – comprising telecom, finance, real estate, construction, education and coaching – has also developed immensely.

“Such service activities do not add to any significant increase in productivity. They (only) create some low-wage employment. Such activities are common to even a small roadside town and do not add anything to the city’s identity as an industrial hub,” says Sanjay Srivastava, who heads the Kanpur operations of a Lucknow-based software company. He says companies in Kanpur have shown great interest in improving their online visibility and most of them, including exporters and manufacturers, have a website each and engage in online business.

There are many leather manufacturing and processing units in Kanpur but most of them have suffered heavily because of the strict enforcement of pollution control measures. The quality of the Ganga, which flows close to the tanneries, has suffered on account of effluent discharge from the tanneries. Many tannery units have shifted to nearby Unnao. According to the council for leather exports, the leather industry in Kanpur has an annual turnover of over Rs 4,300 crore.

Kanpur is the largest city in Uttar Pradesh and the Indian Institute of Technology here (IIT-K) is still considered by many as the best among the IITs. But the excellence of the premier institution does not seem to have rubbed off on the city. IIT-K, like other IITs and IIMs across India, is an island at one end of the city.

Curiously, there has been no comprehensive study of the factors that have led to the city’s decline over the years. Neither the UP Merchants Chamber (UPMC) nor the Indian Industry Association (IIA) has conducted a study or prepared any white paper on this subject. An IIA member says that problems faced by industry in the city are well known to the government, since the state’s industries department and the UP State Industrial Corporation (UPSIDC) are located in Kanpur. “In such a case, does it need anyone else to tell it what is wrong?” he asks.

AK Sinha, secretary of UPMC, Kanpur, says: “There are a host of complaints that the city has in terms of infrastructure, power supply and approach roads. We keep conveying these problems to the chief minister, other ministers and politicians, but nothing concrete ever comes out as a solution.”

Residents of Kanpur are used to being asked how they manage to live in a city that is largely perceived as decaying. Those who could afford it left the city long time ago, and most of the new generation does not want to stay here after completing school education.

Major problems

According to UPMC and IIA, the most important problems that have hindered the growth of Kanpur are bad road conditions in industrial areas and approach to them, erratic power supply, lack of tool rooms, testing facilities, unchecked pollution, poor air connectivity and lack of skilled manpower. In fact, the manpower situation is so bad that many companies have to make do with semi-skilled or almost unskilled manpower even at workplaces that require qualified personnel. Hundreds of migrant workers who had thronged the city left it in the wake of its steady decline, especially in the 1980s and ’90s.
JK Pal, an engineer in UP Power Corporation, says though power consumption in the city has grown manifold over the years, electricity generation and availability remains unchanged. A lot of industries have suffered on this count and many had no option but to move out. “It is remarkable that the city is cheaper than Lucknow in terms of property value, rentals, cost of food etc, since it is basically a labour city,” he says. “Yet people are migrating out of Kanpur.”

Trade union leaders in the city deny that labour trouble fomented by trade unions caused the decline but allege that politics between the centre and the state was a bigger reason. However, the city has been represented by politicians of all shades in the Lok Sabha. For four consecutive terms (1957, 1962, 1967 and 1971), SM Bannerjee of the Communist Party of India represented the city. This was the era when the textile industry was flourishing and lakhs of labourers were working in more than a dozen mills in Kanpur. But in the historic 1977 election, Manohar Lal of the Janata Party rode the anti-Emergency wave to get elected to the Lok Sabha.

The Congress wrested the seat in 1980 when Mohd Asif Khan won it, followed by partyman Naresh Chaturvedi in 1984. The Left made a brief comeback when Subhashini Ali of CPM won the seat in 1989, and then came the turn of the Bharatiya Janata Party whose Jagatvir Singh Drona represented the seat in 1991, 1996 and 1998. But in 1999, Shriprakash Jaiswal of the Congress was a surprise winner. He managed to retain the seat in 2004 and 2009 as well.
While Jaiswal is the union coal minister, Drona is the mayor of Kanpur.

Industry representatives have met politicians in all regimes to seek measures for revival. Sinha says the UPMC had made a presentation to SC Mishra during the BSP rule when he was heading the state advisory council. Even prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had promised during the 2012 assembly election campaign that they would initiate remedial measures for Kanpur. Yet, despite Jaiswal being a union minister, nothing has been done. Sinha says the UPMC, on behalf of IIA, Provincial Industries Association (PIA), Laghu Udyog Bharti and Kanpur Udyog Vyapar Mandal had also recently apprised Uttar Pradesh minister of state Abhishek Mishra of Kanpur problems and hoped for some measures.

He adds that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has recently announced that industrial activity would get a boost with the approval of the dedicated eastern freight corridor of the railways. “Let us see what actually happens in the days to come,” he says.

Incidentally, a few months ago some organisations had staged huge demonstrations against Jaiswal, claiming that he had done nothing for Kanpur besides encouraging some close aides in their businesses. The Congress spokesman denies this, saying that whatever the centre wishes to do is not implemented by the state government.

Proximity to Lucknow

Lucknow, the state capital, is about 90 km from Kanpur and the time taken in driving from limits of one city to those of the other is about 90 minutes through the elevated national highway. However, once you enter Kanpur, reaching the destination – in the city or on the other side of the city such as the IIT or industrial areas – might take another two hours.

With the living conditions being so difficult, many officers of the government and private sectors who work in Kanpur prefer to live in Lucknow. Many have not shifted their families to Kanpur and use the shuttle train that runs between the two cities at an interval of 30 minutes (15 minutes in peak hours) throughout the day. Such officials include senior executives, government officers, engineers and others.

“The proximity to Lucknow is another reason why no one in Lucknow takes Kanpur seriously. For any work, people come to Kanpur and try to return at the earliest. Thus they hardly develop any connect with Kanpur and remain aloof,” says Kunal Dikshit, an advertising and events management executive whose wife works in Kanpur but he himself travels to Lucknow every day. Despite belonging to Kanpur, he feels detached to the city for many reasons.

RD Pal, advisor to the state electricity regulatory commission (ERC), who has worked in Kanpur but is now settled in Lucknow, agrees: “The living conditions in Lucknow are much better than in Kanpur. The government also knows what is wrong with Kanpur and yet no measures have been taken to improve things. No major party or politician seems to be taking the ownership of Kanpur. It is like no other tree can flourish under the shadow of a bigger tree.”

On the other hand, there are pockets of affluence that would put even Lucknow to shame. The number of high-end luxury cars has grown faster than in many bigger cities, and showrooms of Audi, Porsche and BMW opened here much before than they did in Lucknow. The presence of one small and two large malls, display of high fashion at private clubs and hotels, and the presence of IIT, two universities, several central government research institutes and luxury homes also indicate that the city has been the source of prosperity to many.

Those engaged in leather, real estate, medical care and education businesses have indeed prospered, but for them the rest of the city and its problems do not matter. As veteran journalist and writer Nihar Ranjan says: “It is not much different from the attitude of the government which earns huge revenue from the city’s business but does not bother about its basic needs.”

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KANPUR: A BIRD'S EYE VIEW

Area: Approx 300 sq km

Population: 45.81 lakh (Census 2011)

The other city comparable on these two parameters is Surat which has an area of 326 sq km and population of 44 lakh. Surat also has a textile industry hub that is among India’s oldest, and it has suffered severe disasters as well, including the  plague epidemic and floods.

Kanpur has 10 assembly constituencies. It elects one member to Lok Sabha.

Industrial estates: Kalpi road, Uptron Estate, Panki 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Dadanagar, Rooma, Chakeri

Important businesses: Leather industry (Superhouse, Mirza, Sultan, Kings, and many others), Spices (Ashok Masale, Goldie Masale), Kanpur Fertiliser and Cements Limited (a Jaypee Group company), Kothari Group (Pan Parag pan masala, Rotomac pens, real estate), JK Group - Dr Gaur Hari Singhania wing (JK Cements, JK Technosoft), RSPL (Ghari detergent), Jagran Group (Dainik Jagran publications and Rave3 Mall), LML Limited, Starlinger Limited, RHL Steels.

Central/defence units: Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Company (ALIMCO), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Defence Research & Development Organisation’s laboratory Defence Materials & Stores Research & Development Establishment (DMSRDE), Small Arms Factory, Ordnance Parachute Factory, Ordnance Equipment Factory, Indian Ordnance Factories, Central Ordnance Depot (COD).

(The story appeared first in the July 16-31 edition of the print issue)