Antarved Doab · Upper Indus–Gangetic Plain
Terrain and eco-zones
Humid subtropical with a wide annual swing — 3–6 °C on a January night in Meerut, 45–47 °C in a May afternoon at Kanpur. Rainfall runs from about 1,000 mm at the northern end to 800 mm at Prayagraj, almost entirely between late June and September. Winter fog closes the trunk road and the airports for weeks in December and January.
Landforms
Flat, deep Gangetic alluvium — the Doab is the type example of the Indian interfluveKhadar strips along both rivers, cropped in the dry season and abandoned in floodBangar uplands carrying the old villages, the canals and the trunk roadYamuna ravine country south of Etawah, cut into badlandsBhur — wind-blown sandy rises along the Ganga in the central districts
Rivers and waters
Ganga — the eastern boundary along the region's entire lengthYamuna — the western boundary, and the confluence partner at PrayagHindon, Kali Nadi and Krishni in the Upper DoabSengar, Rind and Pandu in the Central DoabUpper Ganga Canal, opened 1854 — a river in all but name, and the reason the region grows what it doesLower Ganga Canal and the Eastern Yamuna Canal
Through the year
| Season | Months | Typical | What it is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | November–February | 4–24 °C | Cold and heavily fogged. Cane crushing is at its peak, gur is made through the night, and the Magh Mela camp city stands on the Prayag sands. |
| Summer | March–June | 28–47 °C | Very hot, with the loo blowing from the west. The rivers shrink to their channels and the ravine country becomes impassable in the middle of the day. |
| Monsoon | July–September | 27–36 °C | Both rivers rise, the khadar floods and the Kanwar yatra fills every northbound road in Sawan. |
| Post-monsoon | October | 20–33 °C | Clear and mild; the cane harvest begins and the Kartik fairs are held on the Ganga ghats. |
Best time to visitOctober to March. Time a visit to Prayagraj for the Magh Mela in January and February, when the sand city exists; the full Kumbh comes round every twelve years and the Ardh Kumbh at six.
The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of Antarved Doab, and the best time of year to visit. (4)