The Agra Canal is an important Indian

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) 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 bee ...

work which starts from

Okhla Okhla, short for Old Canal Housing and Land Authority, is an urban neighbourhood located by the Okhla barrage in South East Delhi, near the border between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Okhla has lent its name to the nearby planned township of Ne ...

in Delhi. 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 ...

originates at the Okhla barrage, downstream of Nizamuddin bridge. The canal receives its water from the

Yamuna River The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

, about to the south of New Delhi. The weir across the

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) 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 Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

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 states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...

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 Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

.. The canal irrigates about in

, and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Faridabad Faridabad () is the most populous List of cities in Haryana by population, city near NCT of Delhi in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of National Capital Region (India), Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite citie ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

, Bharatpur in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and also some parts of Delhi.

History

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

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

and

Districts, and

Bharatpur State Bharatpur was a princely state under British suzerainty. It was ruled by the Sinsinwar clan of the Hindus, Hindu Jats. The state was founded by Badan Singh, Maharaja Badan Singh in 1722. Suraj Mal played an important role in the development a ...

. 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 from

References

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