| Indira Gandhi canal | |||||||||||
| Former Names: | Rajasthan Canal | ||||||||||
| Date Began: | 1958 | ||||||||||
| Date Use: | 2005 | ||||||||||
| Date Completed: | Last portion of canal finished in 2010 | ||||||||||
| Start Point: | Harike Barrage, Punjab | ||||||||||
| End Point: | Thar Desert, Rajasthan | ||||||||||
| Branch Of: | Sutlej Beas | ||||||||||
| Connects To: | Thar Desert | ||||||||||
| Length Km: | 650 | ||||||||||
| Module: |
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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 and Beas rivers in Punjab state, and ends in irrigation facilities in the Thar Desert in the northwest of Rajasthan 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.
The canal consists of the Rajasthan feeder canal with the first in Punjab and Haryana 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 before entering Rajasthan near Kharakhera village in the Tibbi tehsil of the Hanumangarh district.
It traverses seven districts of Rajasthan: Barmer, Bikaner, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, 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 Jaisalmer district.
The idea of bringing the waters from the Himalayan Rivers flowing through Punjab and into Pakistan was conceived by hydraulic engineer Kanwar Sain in the late 1940s. Sain estimated that 2000000ha 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 Satluj, Beas and Ravi. The proposed Rajasthan Canal envisioned use of of water.[1]
The initial plan was to build the canal in two stages. Stage I consisted of a 204km (127miles) feeder canal from Harike barrage, Firozpur, Punjab to Masitawali (Hanumangarh) with the main canal of 189km (117miles) from Masitawali (Hanumangarh) to Pugal, (Bikaner) in Rajasthan. Stage I also included constructing a distributary canal system of about 2950km (1,830miles) in length. Stage II involved constructing a 256km (159miles) long main canal from Pugal (Bikaner) to Mohangarh (Jaisalmer) along with a distributary canal network of 3600km (2,200miles). The main canal was planned to be 140feet wide at the top and 116feet wide at the bottom with a water depth of 21feet. It was scheduled to be completed by 1971.
The canal faced severe financial constraints, neglect and corruption.[2] 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 100000ha. With increased requirements, the total length of main, feeder and distribution canals was about 9245km (5,745miles). Stage I was completed in 1983 around 20 years behind the completion schedule.
After the construction of the Indira Gandhi Canal, irrigation facilities were available over an area of 6770km2 in Jaisalmer district and 37km2 in Barmer district. Irrigation had already been provided in an area of 3670km2 in Jaisalmer district. Mustard, cotton, and wheat now grows in this semi-arid 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.[3]