The Agra Canal is an important

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

work which starts from

Okhla Okhla is a suburban village located near Okhla barrage in the South East Delhi district of Delhi near the border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Its nearest industrial area called commonly as Okhla Industrial Area (OIA) or Okhla Industrial Est ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. The Agra

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

originates at the

Okhla barrage The Okhla barrage (Okhla Weir and Okhla bridge)I. Mohan, 1992Environment and Urban Development: A Critical Evaluation of Slums is a 791 meters or roughly 800-yard long weir across Yamuna River opened in 1874. It also serves as the location of ...

, downstream of Nizamuddin bridge. The canal receives its water from the

Yamuna River The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Ba ...

, about to the south of

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

. The weir across the

Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

was constructed of locally quarried stone. It was about long, and rises seven feet above the summer level of the river. From

the canal follows a route south then southeast for in the high land between the Khari-Nadi and the

and finally joins the Utanga River about below Agra. Navigable branches connect the canal with

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

and

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

.. The canal irrigates about in

, and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

Faridabad Faridabad is the most populous city in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite cities around Delhi and is located 284 kilometres south of the state capital Chandigarh. The ri ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

, Bharatpur in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

and also some parts of

History

The canal opened in the year 1874. In the beginning, it was available for navigation, in

, erstwhile

Gurgaon Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

and

Districts, and

Bharatpur State Bharatpur State, which is also known as the Jat State of Bharatpur historically known as the Kingdom of Bharatpur, was a Hindu Kingdom in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. It was ruled by the Sinsinwar clan of the Hindu ...

. Later, navigation was stopped in 1904 and the canal has, since then, been exclusively used for irrigation purposes only. At present, the canal does not flow in Gurgaon district, but only in

, which was earlier a part of Gurgaon. In recent times, Agra canal is an important landmark which separates

Greater Faridabad Neharpar also known as Greater Faridabad refers to newly developed Sectors 66 to 89 in Faridabad, Haryana, India. Sector 66 to 74 are Industrial Sectors whereas Sector 75 to 89 are Residential Sectors. This area is being developed new, and he ...

from

References

The Agra Canal also has many places to visit along its coast. Canals in Uttar Pradesh Agra district Yamuna River Buildings and structures in Delhi Canals in Rajasthan Canals opened in 1874 Canals in Haryana {{India-dam-stub