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What is the main use of this canal water?

The total capacity of the Upper Ganga Canal is about 13,000 cusecs (cubic foot per second). Out of this, most of the water is being used for irrigation purpose. However, certain cities in western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi get drinking water supply from the canal. It provides irrigation facility to the district of Haridwar in the state of Uttrakhand and district of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bullandshahr, Gautambuddha Nagar, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura, Agra, Etawah and Firozabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh. As the UGC is a perennial canal, unlike the other canals, it provides water for both Kharif and Rabi seasons. It also provides water for commercial projects such as power plants.

How much water do Delhi, Noida and Greater Noida get from this Canal?

Delhi gets about 470 cusecs of water from the UGC which is crucial for the drinking water supply in the national capital. However, Noida gets only 50 cusecs of water from this canal. Some localities in Noida such as Sectors 20 and 21 gets tap water from this source. Noida gets water from the UGC at Masuri Dasna, situated in Ghaziabad. Before reaching to Noida, the water is treated at Pratap Vihar, a locality in Ghaziabad. Greater Noida is yet to get the proposed 85 cusecs of water from the UGC.

Why the Upper Ganga Canal is closed?

The UGC is closed once in a year for annual maintenance work. Usually, this happens around Diwali. The Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh, which is in charge of the canal, undertakes de-silting and cleaning exercise of the distributaries and minors, which get water from this canal. Apart from this the annual check-up of the gates of the barrages, which regulate the flow of water into the river, too, takes place during this period. The UGC has been built in such a way that it has a “non-silting and non-scouring velocity”, which ensures that no accumulation of the silt takes place in the main canal. Thus, there is no need to close the canal for the cleaning purpose.

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Where do Delhi and Noida get water when the UGC is closed?

Apart from the UGC, Delhi also gets 755 cusecs of water from the Yamuna. But when the UGC is closed, there is still some water stored at cross regulators. That is being supplied during the temporary closure. As far as Noida is concerned, the city has more than 200 tube wells and six Renney wells installed for extraction of groundwater, which provides Noida with 222 million litres per day (roughly 90 cusecs). Besides this, Noida also has some water stored at cross regulators on the UGC.

When will the canal start

The canal will restart at midnight on October 28.