Indira Gandhi Canal

Also called: Rajasthan Canal, IGNP, Indira Gandhi Nahar · Topic: Regional Planning and Sustainable Development in India · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "Water Resources"; Class 11, Ch 3 "Drainage System"; Class 12, Ch 4 "Water Resources"; Class 12, Ch 6 "Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context"

Meaning

The Indira Gandhi Canal (Indira Gandhi Nahar, earlier called the Rajasthan Canal) is a large canal system. It takes water from the Harike barrage in Punjab, where the Satluj and Beas rivers meet, and carries it into the dry Thar Desert of western Rajasthan. Britannica calls it the longest canal in India, at about 650 km (400 miles) [2].

It matters because it is a classic target-area project (a plan made for one problem region, not for the whole country). It brought irrigation, drinking water and settlement to a drought-hit desert. It also brought waterlogging and salinity (salt in the soil).

Explanation

Origin and purpose

• 1948: the engineer Kanwar Sain first came up with the idea.
• 31 March 1958: work on the project began.
• The problem it targets:
• The Thar gets little rain and has frequent droughts.

• Most of its land was unused desert with few people.

• The plan:

• Turn desert into farmland with canal water.
• Supply drinking water.
• Settle people in the area.

Source of water and route

• Storage (upstream): water is stored at Bhakra Dam (on the Satluj) and Pong Dam (on the Beas). It is shared among Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan through inter-state agreements.
• Diversion (the head): the Harike barrage, Punjab, at the Satluj–Beas confluence.
• A barrage is a low wall with gates built across a river. It raises the water level so water can be sent into canals. Unlike a dam, it stores very little water.

• From Harike, water flows south-west and irrigates about 6.07 lakh ha (1.5 million acres) of desert in western Rajasthan [3].

• Feeder: the Rajasthan Feeder carries water only to the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project [4].

• The Rajasthan Feeder and the Sirhind Feeder both leave the river just upstream of the Harike headworks.

• Both run through Punjab before they enter Rajasthan [4].

• Route: the canal runs parallel to the India–Pakistan border, about 40 km away on average. It passes through the Marusthali ("land of the dead"), the driest western part of the Thar.

Command area and the two stages

• Command area: all the land a canal can water, by gravity or by pumping.
• Culturable command area (CCA): the part of the command area that can actually be farmed. It leaves out villages, roads, rocky ground and the tops of moving dunes.
• Planned figures: total system length (main canal + branches + distributaries) is 9,060 km. The total CCA is 19.63 lakh ha.

	Stage-I	Stage-II
Districts	Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, northern Bikaner	Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu
Land	Gently undulating (low rolling ground, easy to level)	Shifting sand dunes; summer heat up to 50°C
CCA	5.53 lakh ha	14.10 lakh ha
Irrigation began	Early 1960s	Mid-1980s

• Why Stage-II is bigger but harder to farm:
• Moving dunes bury canal channels and fields.
• Very high heat means a lot of water is lost to evaporation.

• More of the land lies higher than the canal, so pumping is needed.

• Bikaner is in both stages. Its north is in Stage-I and the rest is in Stage-II.

Flow and lift irrigation

• Flow irrigation: water runs downhill by gravity from the canal to the fields. About 70% of the CCA was planned for flow irrigation.
• Lift irrigation: water is pumped up to land that lies higher than the canal. About 30% of the CCA was planned for lift irrigation.
• Step 1: the fields are above the canal, so gravity cannot carry water to them.
• Step 2: pumping stations lift the water into a raised channel.

• Step 3: from that channel, water flows down onto the higher fields.

• Map rule (NCERT Figs. 6.4–6.5):

• All lift canals start on the left bank of the main canal.
• All right-bank channels are flow channels.
• Reason: land on the left bank rises above the canal, and land on the right bank slopes down from it.

Other uses and problems

• Drinking water: seven districts of western Rajasthan depend fully on the project, including the cities of Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer [4].
• Power: the canal supplies water to power plants at Suratgarh and Ramgarh [4].
• How waterlogging and salinity happen:
• Water seeps (leaks) out of unlined or damaged canals into the soil.
• The water table (the level of water under the ground) rises.
• The soil becomes waterlogged (soaked, with no air for roots), and crops fail.
• Summer heat evaporates the water and leaves salt on the surface. Salty soil cannot grow crops [2].

Where it occurs

• Head: Harike barrage, Punjab, at the Satluj–Beas confluence [3].
• Storage reservoirs: Bhakra Dam (Satluj) and Pong Dam (Beas). The water is shared by Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
• Feeder route: the Rajasthan Feeder runs through Punjab into Rajasthan [4].
• Command area (western Rajasthan, the Thar/Marusthali):
• Stage-I: Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, northern Bikaner.

• Stage-II: Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu.

• Power plants: Suratgarh and Ramgarh [4].

• Feeder seepage zone in Punjab: Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozpur districts (south-west Punjab) [5].
• Relining work:
• 26.09.2018: the Union Cabinet approved ₹825 crore to reline the Rajasthan and Sirhind Feeders as twin projects [4][5].
• The Rajasthan Feeder was relined from RD 179000 to RD 496000 (RD, or reduced distance, is the distance marked along a canal). The work was planned for 2018-19 to 2022-23 [5].
• Expected result: less waterlogging on 84,800 ha [5].

Don't confuse with

• Bhakra and Pong Dams vs Harike barrage: Bhakra (Satluj) and Pong (Beas) are upstream storage dams. The canal starts at Harike, a diversion barrage that stores very little water.
• Rajasthan Feeder vs Sirhind Feeder: both leave the river just upstream of Harike. Only the Rajasthan Feeder carries water solely to the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project [4].
• Command area vs culturable command area (CCA): the command area is all the land the canal can reach. The CCA is only the part that can be farmed. The 19.63 lakh ha figure is the CCA.
• Flow channels vs lift canals: flow channels use gravity and are all on the right bank. Lift canals use pumps and all start on the left bank.

Prelims Hooks

• The canal starts at the Harike barrage (Punjab), at the Satluj–Beas confluence. It does not start at Bhakra or Pong.
• Earlier name: Rajasthan Canal. Idea by Kanwar Sain (1948). Work began on 31 March 1958.
• CCA 19.63 lakh ha = Stage-I 5.53 lakh ha + Stage-II 14.10 lakh ha. Stage-II is larger. Planned split: about 70% flow, 30% lift.
• Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur and Churu are Stage-II only. Stage-I covers Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and northern Bikaner.
• Trap: all lift canals start on the left bank and all right-bank channels are flow channels. The reverse statement is wrong.
• 2018: ₹825 crore was approved to reline the Sirhind and Rajasthan Feeders, to fight waterlogging in Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozpur (Punjab) [5].

Mains Points

• A target-area planning model (GS-I/III):
• One project tried to solve drought, low population and unused desert land at the same time.
• In Stage-I, the Ganganagar–Hanumangarh belt moved from herding animals to growing crops.
• Today the canal is the main drinking-water supply for western Rajasthan [4].

• Farming and settlement along the border also strengthen the western frontier.

• Unequal results and environmental cost:

• Stage-I has gentle land and has had irrigation since the early 1960s, and it has done well.
• Stage-II has dunes, heat up to 50°C and more lift irrigation, and has had irrigation only since the mid-1980s. Each hectare costs more there, and more water is lost to evaporation.

• Seepage raises the water table, which leads to waterlogging and salty soil. This happens both in the command area and along the feeders in Punjab [2][5].

• Policy responses and inter-state angle (GS-III):

• Fixes include lining canals (for example the 2018 feeder relining [5]), better drainage, wiser water use, and crops that need less water.
• The canal depends on water from Bhakra and Pong that is shared between states. Punjab–Rajasthan water disputes therefore affect it directly.

Related concepts

• Command area
• Indira Gandhi Canal Stage-I
• Indira Gandhi Canal Stage-II
• Lift irrigation

Read more

• Case study: the Indira Gandhi Canal (Nahar) project and its command area