View source for Jumna Canal, Eastern

=Jumna Canal, Eastern=

An important irrigation work in the 
Upper Doab of the United Provinces, taking off from the left or east- 
ern bank of the Jumna. The canal is drawn from a branch of the 
river which divides soon after piercing the Siwaliks. The bed at this 
point has a rapid slope over boulders and shingle, and the supply is 
easily maintained by spurs. For some miles the canal itself flows 
over a similar bed. The main channel is 129 miles long, and there 
are 729 miles of distributaries and 447 of drains. Immediately after 
the British occupation of the Doab, recurring famines pointed to the 
urgent necessity for irrigation, and surveys commenced in 1809, but 
work was not begun till 1823. Funds were limited, and the canal was 
first opened in January, 1830. Sir Proby Cautley's experience on this 
canal was of great assistance in carrying out the magnificent works of 
the more important Upper Ganges Canal. The line followed kept 
closely to that of an old canal of the seventeenth century. It has been 
much improved since it was opened, by providing falls (which also supply 
power for flour-mills) to lessen the slope, and by straightening the channel. 

The capital cost at the end of 1 830-1 amounted to little more than 
4 lakhs, which had increased to 46 lakhs by the end of 1903-4. The 
canal serves a rich tract in the Districts of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, 
and Meerut, lying between the Hindan and Jumna, and falls into the 
latter river a little below Delhi. It commands an area of 906,000 acres, 
and in 1903-4 irrigated 305,000 acres. The gross revenue has 
exceeded working expenses in every year except during the Mutiny ; 
and the net profits are usually high, amounting to 9-9 lakhs or 22 per 
cent, on the capital outlay in 1903-4, while the gross profits were 
14.5 lakhs. Since 1837-8 the canal has not been used for navigation.