Rajpur Canal

History

The earliest of all the Dun canals is the ancient Rajpur Canal, taking off from the Rispana river and bringing its water along the crest of the water parting as far as the town Dehra. Tradition refers to the construction of this Canal to Rani Karnavati and her consort, Ajbu Kaur, who administered from the ancient capital at Nawada, the Sub Himalayan territories of the rajas of Garhwal. Later, the work of maintaining and repairing this canal was entrusted to the Mahants of the Temple of Guru Ram Rai in Dehra. In 1817, Mahant Har Sevak claimed full proprietary rights over the canal, a claim which the Board of commissioners, accepting the old tradition, disallowed on the ground that the Rani had lived previous to the existence of Nanak Shah to whom the temple was originally dedicated. Captain Cautley submitted a project in Nov. 1840 to make the water course "pucca" and work was commenced in 1841 and completed in the rains of 1844, when water was first admitted into the canal. Originally, the Rajpur Canal was designed to convey drinking water to the town of Dehra & though later improvements so increased the supply that it was used for irrigating a few villages.

The Head Works

The Canal takes its supply from the Rispana, a river which like tons, has its source in the hill near Mussoorie. The head of Canal consists of sluice and hand operated wooden gates so that water level is raised & diverted into the canal, which off takes from left bank of the river. The head is about 500 m south of Rajpur Village and can be developed as a tourist spot.
 

 Rajpur Canal System

The total distribution system of Rajpur Canal is given below :