Irrigation Canals and Rivers of Uttar PradeshIrrigation Canals and Rivers of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is drained by several mighty Himalayan and peninsular rivers flowing mostly in a northwest-southeast direction.

• Ganga River System: Enters UP at Bijnor district and exits at Ballia. It traverses the maximum length in UP (approx 1,140 km). Major left-bank tributaries include Ramganga, Gomati, and Ghaghra; right-bank tributaries include Yamuna and Tamsa.
• Yamuna River System: Enters UP at Faizlabad (Saharanpur) and meets Ganga at Prayagraj (Triveni Sangam). Major tributaries in UP are Chambal, Betwa, Ken, Hindon, and Sind. It forms boundaries with several districts.
• Ghaghra & Sharda (Kali) Rivers: Originating in Tibet/Nepal, Ghaghra (Karnali) enters UP at Barhaj (Deoria) and joins Ganga at Chhapra. Sharda flows along the Indo-Nepal border before merging with Ghaghra as Chowka.
• Gomati River (Rainfed/Springfed): Originates from Gomat Taal (Fulhar Lake) in Madho Tanda, Pilibhit district. It is a unique plain-origin river that flows through Lucknow and Jaunpur before joining Ganga near Ghazipur.

Canals constitute the second largest source of irrigation in Uttar Pradesh after tube wells, covering vast tracts of the Gangetic plain.

• Sharda Canal System: The largest canal system in Uttar Pradesh, originating from Banbassa (Uttarakhand/UP border). It irrigates major districts in Rohilkhand and central UP with a network spanning thousands of kilometers.
• Upper Ganga Canal: Started operating in 1854 from Haridwar, it irrigates districts of western UP including Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, and Mathura.
• Lower Ganga Canal: Take off from Narora (Bulandshahr) on the Ganga river, serving districts like Aligarh, Etah, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, and Fatehpur.
• Agra Canal: Originates from Okhla barrage near Delhi on the Yamuna river, providing irrigation to Mathura, Agra districts, and parts of Rajasthan and Haryana.

Water resource management in UP relies heavily on dams built across peninsular rivers and southern uplands to store monsoon run-off.

• Rihand Dam & Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar: Built on the Rihand River (tributary of Son) in Pipri, Sonbhadra district. Its reservoir, Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, is India's largest man-made artificial lake.
• Matatila Dam: Constructed on the Betwa River in Lalitpur district, supplying water for irrigation and hydel power generation shared between UP and Madhya Pradesh.
• Rajghat Dam Project: An inter-state project built on the Betwa River, located about 22 km from Lalitpur (UP) and Chanderi (MP).
• Ken-Betwa Interlinking Project: India's first major river interlinking project under the National Perspective Plan, benefiting drought-prone Bundelkhand region (Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi, etc.).

Understanding the percentage share of different irrigation sources is vital for agricultural planning and competitive exam questions.

• Tube Wells & Groundwater: Tube wells constitute the primary source of irrigation in UP, accounting for nearly 74-75% of total irrigated area, driven by private and government electric/diesel pumps.
• Canal Irrigation Share: Canals rank second, accounting for approximately 15-18% of the total net irrigated area in the state, predominantly serving western and central Gangetic plains.
• Wells, Ponds & Tanks: Traditional masonry wells, ponds, and tanks account for the remaining 5-7% of irrigation, historically prevalent in eastern UP districts.