Indira Gandhi Canal Stage-II
Topic: Regional Planning and Sustainable Development in India · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 6 "Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context"
Meaning
Indira Gandhi Canal Stage-II is the second and larger part of the area this canal waters in western Rajasthan. Its culturable command area (the farmable land the canal can irrigate) is 14.10 lakh ha. It covers the districts of Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur and Churu. The land here is harsh. It has shifting sand dunes (sand hills that the wind keeps moving), and summer heat reaches 50°C. Irrigation began in the mid-1980s. Because this land breaks down so easily, planners give it most of the canal's tree-planting, shelterbelt (rows of trees that block wind) and pasture work.
Example
In Jaisalmer district, deep in the Thar Desert near the Pakistan border, canal water reached dune country that had never been farmed before. Here, irrigation is spread thinly over crops and pasture.
Don't confuse with
- Indira Gandhi Canal Stage-I: it covers Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and northern Bikaner. Its land is gently undulating (low, rolling ground), its command area is only 5.53 lakh ha, and irrigation began in the early 1960s. A statement placing Ganganagar or Hanumangarh in Stage-II is false.