Agra Canal


The Agra Canal is an important Indian irrigation work which starts from Okhla in Delhi. The Agra canal originates from Okhla barrage, downstream of Nizamuddin bridge.
The Canal receives its water from the Yamuna River at Okhla, about 10 km to the south of New Delhi. The weir across the Yamuna was constructed of locally quarried stone. It was about 800-yard long, and rises seven-feet above the summer level of the river.
From Okhla the canal follows a route south then southeast for in the high land between the Khari-Nadi and the Yamuna and finally joins the Utanga River about below Agra. Navigable branches connect the canal with Mathura and Agra.
The canal irrigates about 1.5 lakh hectares in Agra, and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Faridabad in Haryana, Bharatpur in Rajasthan and also some parts of Delhi

History

The canal opened in 1874. In the beginning, it was available for navigation, in Delhi, erstwhile Gurgaon, Mathura and Agra Districts, and Bharatpur State. 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 district Gurgaon, but only in Faridabad, which was earlier a part of Gurgaon.
In recent times, Agra canal is an important landmark which separates Greater Faridabad from Faridabad.