US president Donald Trump vowed to “drain the swamp” of lobbyists and elites in Washington DC. Now, one Indian city is racing to clean up a stagnant river as he prepares to visit.

Mr Trump arrives in India on 24 February on a maiden two-day trip that aims to repair bilateral relations hurt by a trade spat.

He plans to visit the western city of Ahmedabad and India’s capital New Delhi, as well as Agra, where he will view the famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, at sunset.

In the city, authorities are on a clean-up drive, including the polluted waters of the Yamuna river, that backs on to the monument complex.

Jal Singh Meena, an officer with the Agra Ganga Nahar, the government body that manages the canal network that feeds into the Yamuna in Agra, said on Thursday an additional 17 million litres of water are being released from three locks in the week preceding Mr Trump’s visit on Monday: more than double the usual amount.

Indian city Chennai running out of water Show all 12 1 /12 Indian city Chennai running out of water Indian city Chennai running out of water Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India before the drought and in its current state meaning millions of people are turning to water tank trucks as house and hotel taps have run dry Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 Indian workers collect water from the Puzhal reservoir AFP/Getty Images Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2018 This June 15, 2018, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India before the drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 The drought is the worst in living memory for the bustling capital of Tamil Nadu state Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water Indian residents get water from a community well in Chennai after reservoirs for the city ran dry AFP/Getty Images Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2018 This June 15, 2018, satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir, Chennai, India before draught. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Satellite image Â©2019 Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water April 2019 This April 6, 2019, satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India during drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Satellite image Â©2019 Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 This June 15, 2019, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India during the drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 This June 15, 2019, Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Puzhal reservoir in Chennai, India during the drought. Millions of people are turning to water tank trucks in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu as house and hotel taps run dry because of an acute water shortage caused by drying lakes and depleted groundwater. (Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies via AP) Copernicus Sentinel-2 Satellite Image/Maxar Technologies/AP Indian city Chennai running out of water June 2019 People sit around a tower for measuring water depth in the dried-up Puzhal reservoir Reuters Indian city Chennai running out of water Indians stand in queues to fill vessels filled with drinking water from a water tanker in Chennai AP Indian city Chennai running out of water A man walks through the dried-up Puzhal reservoir, Reuters

The extra flow had been ordered “to keep it clean and remove the foul smell,” he told Reuters.

On Thursday, workers scrubbed walls and fountains at the monument, commissioned in 1632 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his late wife Mumtaz, television channels showed.

India’s best-known attraction, the Taj Mahal is visited by nearly seven million tourists a year, according to official data, but has been blighted by overcrowding and pollution.

Along with polluted water, authorities are battling some of the world’s filthiest air that stains the white marble of the monument, and increasingly aggressive troops of monkeys that have been known to attack visitors.

District authorities have denied local media reports they have relocated some of the more troublesome primates for the visit, and that a bridge on a proposed route taken by Mr Trump will be unable to bear the weight of his armour-plated limousine known as “The Beast”.