The Indira Gandhi Canal (originally, Rajasthan Canal) is the longest canal in India. It starts at the Harike Barrage near Harike, a few kilometers downriver from the confluence of the

Satluj The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the ...

and

Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh with parts in villages Dholo Nangal and Wazir Bhullar. ...

rivers in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

state, and ends in irrigation facilities in the

Thar Desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, ...

in the northwest of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

state. Previously known as the Rajasthan Canal, it was renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal on 2 November 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...

. The canal consists of the Rajasthan feeder canal with the first in Punjab and

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

state and a further in Rajasthan. This is followed by the of the Rajasthan main canal, which is entirely within Rajasthan. The canal enters Haryana from Punjab near Lohgarh and runs through the western part of the

Sirsa district Sirsa district is the largest district of Haryana state. Sirsa is the district headquarters. It is located on National Highway 9 and from the capital Delhi. Etymology The district is named after its headquarters, Sirsa. The name, Sirsa is de ...

before entering Rajasthan near Kharakhera village in the Tibbi tehsil of the

Hanumangarh district Hanumangarh district is a district in the state of Rajasthan in India. The city of Hanumangarh is the district headquarters and its largest city. District profile The district is located in the extreme north of Rajasthan. It has an area of ...

. It traverses seven districts of Rajasthan: Barmer,

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital o ...

, Churu, Hanumangarh,

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed "The Golden city", is a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone and is crowned by the ancient Jaisalmer Fort. This fort contains a ...

Jodhpur Jodhpur (; ) is the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan and officially the second metropolitan city of the state. It was formerly the seat of the princely state of Jodhpur State. Jodhpur was historically the capital of the ...

, and Sriganganagar. The main canal is long, which is 1458 RD (reduced distance). From 1458 RD, a long branch starts, known as the Sagar Mal Gopa Branch or the SMGS. From the end point of SMGS, another 92-kilometer-long sub-branch starts, the last of the Baba Ramdev sub-branch. It ends near Gunjangarh village in

district.

Design and construction

The idea of bringing the waters from the Himalayan Rivers flowing through

and into Pakistan was conceived by hydraulic engineer Kanwar Sain in the late 1940s. Sain estimated that of desert land in Bikaner and the northwest corner of Jaisalmer could be irrigated by the stored waters of Punjab rivers. In 1960, the Indus Water Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan, which gave India the right to use the water from three rivers: the

and Ravi. The proposed Rajasthan Canal envisioned use of of water.Ramtanu Maitra: The Indira Gandhi Canal: greening the desert in India EIR Volume 14, Number 7, February 13, 1987 The initial plan was to build the canal in two stages. Stage I consisted of a feeder canal from Harike barrage,

Firozpur Firozpur, also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in Firozpur District, Punjab, India. After the partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan border with memorials to soldiers who die ...

to Masitawali ( Hanumangarh) with the main canal of from Masitawali ( Hanumangarh) to Pugal, (

) in

. Stage I also included constructing a distributary canal system of about in length. Stage II involved constructing a long main canal from Pugal (

) to Mohangarh (

) along with a distributary canal network of . The main canal was planned to be wide at the top and wide at the bottom with a water depth of . It was scheduled to be completed by 1971. The canal faced severe financial constraints, neglect and corruption. In 1970 the plan was revised and it was decided that the entire canal would be lined with concrete tiles. Five more lift schemes were added and the flow command of Stage II was increased by . With increased requirements, the total length of main, feeder and distribution canals was about . Stage I was completed in 1983 around 20 years behind the completion schedule.

Effect on the region

Indira Gandhi Canal Rajasthan Canal Lohgarh Sivender

After the construction of the Indira Gandhi Canal, irrigation facilities were available over an area of in

district and in Barmer district. Irrigation had already been provided in an area of in Jaisalmer district. Mustard,

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

, and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

now grow in this

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

northwestern region, replacing the soil there previously. However, many dispute the success of this canal in arid regions and question whether it has achieved its goals.

References

Sources

*Anon. 1998. Statistical Abstract Rajasthan. Directorate of Economic and Statistics, Rajasthan, Jaipur. *Balak Ram, 1999. Report on Wastelands in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan. CAZRI, Jodhpur. * Karimkoshteh, M. H. 1995. Greening the Desert (Agro-Economic impact of IG canal). Renaissance Publication, New Delhi. *Kavadia, P.S. 1991. Problem of waterlogging in Indira Gandhi Nahar Project and outline of Action Plan to tackle it. *Singh, S. and Kar, A. 1997. Desertification Control - In the arid ecosystem of India for sustainable development. Agro-Botanical Publishers, Bikaner. *Burdak, L. R. 1982. Recent advances in Desert Afforestation, Dehradun. {{Authority control Canals in Punjab, India Interbasin transfer Canals in Rajasthan Irrigation canals 1983 establishments in Rajasthan Canals opened in 1983