INDIRA GANDHI CANAL
Dushyant Badal
The Indira Gandhi Canal is one of the biggest canal projects in India.
It starts from the Harike Barrage at Sultanpur, a few kilometers below
the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers in Punjab state. It runs
south-southwest in Punjab and Haryana but mainly in Rajasthan for a
total of 650 kilometers and ends near at Ramgarh,near Jaisalmer, in
Rajasthan.
Its construction started on the 31st March,1958, inaugurated by then
Home Minister Govind Ballabh Pant]. It was built with the aim of
converting part of the Thar desert from wasteland to agriculturally
productive land. It was earlier known as the Rajasthan Canal. The name
was changed on the 2nd Nov,1984.
It uses water released from the Pong dam and provides irrigation
facilities to the north-western region of Rajasthan, a part of the
Thar Desert. It consists of the Rajasthan feeder canal (with the first
167 km in Punjab and Haryana and the remaining 37 km in Rajasthan) and
445 km of the Rajasthan main canal which is entirely within Rajasthan.
The IGNP traverses seven districts of Rajasthan: Barmer, Bikaner,
Churu, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Sriganganagar.
Contents
• 1 The Green revolution in Rajasthan
• 2 Improvement in living standard
• 3 Sand dune stabilization
• 4 Environmental problems
• 5 References
The Green revolution in Rajasthan
After the construction of the Indira Gandhi Canal, irrigation
facilities were available over an area of 6770 km² in Jaisalmer
district and 37 km² in Barmer district. Irrigation had already been
provided in an area of 3670 km² in Jaisalmer district. The canal has
transformed the barren deserts of this district into rich and lush
fields. Crops of mustard, cotton, and wheat now flourish in this semi-
arid western region replacing the sand there previously.
A NASA satellite image of the Thar Desert, with the India-Pakistan
border superimposed.
Improvement in living standard
Besides providing water for agriculture, the canal will supply
drinking water to hundreds of people in far-flung areas. As the second
stage of work on the canal progresses rapidly, there is hope that it
will enhance the living standards of the people of the state.
Sand dune stabilization
The Indira Gandhi Canal is a major step in reclaiming the Thar Desert
and checking desertification of fertile areas. There is a planting
programme for greening the desert in areas near the Indira Gandhi
Canal which was started in 1965. This consists of the planting of
shelter belts along roads and canals, blocks of plantations and sand
dune stabilization. The tree species being used for planting are
Dalbergia sissoo, Eucalyptus terticornis, Eucalyptus camaldulensis,
Morus alba, Tecomella undulata, Acacia tortilis, Azadirachta indica,
Albizia lebbeck, Cassia fistula, Popular ciliata, Melia azedarch, and
Acacia nilotica.
Environmental problems
The excessive irrigation and intensification of agriculture over the
years has caused environmental degradation and creation of new
wastelands. There have been problems with water-logging caused by
excessive irrigation, seepage from canals and poor drainage. These
factors produced a rise in the water table, increased salinity and
finally submergence of the land. These problems have been exacerbated
by the cultivation of water intensive cash crops such as wheat and
rice.
Indira Gandhi Canal (Measurements)
(Former Rajasthan Canal) 20 long years for the project 16500 million
m3, 450 km main
canal.
1. Rajasthan Canal takes off from Harika Barrage (capacity at the head
is 523.83 m3/s)
in Punjab.
2. Total length 649 km.
a. Rajasthan feeder Canal in Punjab and Haryana 204 km.
b. Rajasthan Canal 445 km upto Mohanagarh in Jaislmer district.
(i) Stage I 393 km,
(ii) Stage II 256 km.
3. Q = 523.55 m3/s.
4. Top width 42.56 m.
5. Bottom width: 36.36 m.
6. S0 = 1: 12000
7. Depth of flow = 6.40 m
8. Total length of distribution system 8776 km.
Field Canal 65000 km.
9. Total length of canal system including second phase from Harrika
barrage to Gadra Road in Barmer would be 9424 km. (distribution
system)
10. Tile lining: Single tile lining 30.5 cm * 15.2 cm * 5.1 cm, on 1
cm thick cement mortar
layer of 1: 5.
Indira Gandhi Canal is one of the biggest canal projects in India. It
was earlier known as Rajasthan Canal, but in November 2, 1984 its name
was changed as Indira Gandhi Canal. The Canel starts from the Harike
Barrage below the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers in Punjab.
The Canel runs some parts of Punjab and Haryana and runs 650 km in
Rajasthan. Its end near Jaisalmer (स्वर्ण नगरी जैसलमेर) in the middle
of The Thar Desert of Rajasthan .
The project objectives include drought proofing, providing drinking
water, improvement of environment, afforestation, employment,
rehabilitation, development and projection of animal wealth and
increasing agricultural produce.
Indira Gandhi Canal
The Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP)
The Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) construction commenced in the
year 1958. Indira Gandhi Nahar Project was designed to utilise 9,367
Mm3/yr of the total 10,608 Mm3/yr allocated to Rajasthan from the
surplus waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers. The construction of the
project has been divided into two stages.
Stage I : Stage I consists of a 204 km long feeder canal, having a
headworks discharge capacity of 460 m3/sec, which starts from Harike
Barrage. 170 km of the feeder canal lie in Punjab and Haryana and 34
km in Rajasthan. The entire system of stage-I consists of the 204 km
long feeder canal, 189km long main canal and 3454 km long distribution
system, is concrete lined, and serves 553 kha of culturable command
area, out of which 46 kha are served by pumping to a 60 m lift,
through four pumping stations. In addition to irrigation and domestic
water supply through this project , it has been proposed by the
Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB) to install a total of 12.76
MW of mini hydro electric power stations, to utilise the available
water fall in the canal. One such power station, with an installed
capacity of 2´2 MW has already started functioning at the Suratgarh
branch of IGNP stage I.
Stage II : IGNP Stage II comprises construction of a 256 km long main
canal and 5,606 km of a lined distribution system, and will serve
1,410 kha of CCA (873577 ha area in flow and 537018 ha under lift),
utilising 4,930 Mm3/yr of water. The main canal in the entire length
was completed in the year 1986.
Development: Indira Gandhi Canal is changing the face of The Thar
Desert of Rajasthan and check spreading of desert to the fertile
areas. Besides providing water for the crops, the canal would supply
drinking water to hundreds of people in the far-flung areas.
Irrigation facilities would be available in an area of 6770 km² in
Jaisalmer district and 37 km² in Barmer district. The canal has
transformed the barren deserts of Jaisalmer district into rich and
lush fields. Crops of mustard, cotton, and wheat now flourish in the
semi-arid western region of the state.
Water level rise in Jodhpur: Drought plagued Jodhpur (सूर्य नगरी
जोधपुर)every year but the canal waters solved the water shortage and
everyone was delighted. But the canal water was stored in natural
reservoirs which happened to have cracks in their base. Water began
seeping out. As it seeped out, the water table rose. In some parts of
the city, water is seeping through to the surface. In others, it is
just a few centimetres below the surface. "The entire water table has
risen to just one metre below the surface. Normally, it should be at
least five metres below ground," said O. P. Poonia, a scientist with
the Central Ground Water Board in Jodhpur
Indira Gandhi Nahar Project
Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) is one of the most gigantic
projects in the world aiming to dedesertify and transform desert waste
land into agriculturally productive area. The project objectives
include drought proofing, providing drinking water, improvement of
environment, afforestation, employment, rehabilitation, development
and projection of animal wealth and increasing agricultural produce.
The project construction commenced in the year 1958. Though the
project is only partially complete it has shown remarkable success.
Indira Gandhi Nahar Project was designed to utilise 9,367 Mm3/yr of
the total 10,608 Mm3/yr allocated to Rajasthan from the surplus waters
of the Ravi and Beas rivers. The construction of the project has been
divided into two stages.
Stage I
Stage I consists of a 204 km long feeder canal, having a headworks
discharge capacity of 460 m3/sec, which starts from Harike Barrage.
170 km of the feeder canal lie in Punjab and Haryana and 34 km in
Rajasthan.
The entire system of stage-I consists of the 204 km long feeder canal,
189km long main canal and 3454 km long distribution system, is
concrete lined, and serves 553 kha of culturable command area, out of
which 46 kha are served by pumping to a 60 m lift, through four
pumping stations.
In addition to irrigation and domestic water supply through this
project , it has been proposed by the Rajasthan State Electricity
Board (RSEB) to install a total of 12.76 MW of mini hydro electric
power stations, to utilise the available water fall in the canal. One
such power station, with an installed capacity of 2´2 MW has already
started functioning at the Suratgarh branch of IGNP stage I.
Stage II
IGNP Stage II comprises construction of a 256 km long main canal and
5,606 km of a lined distribution system, and will serve 1,410 kha of
CCA (873577 ha area in flow and 537018 ha under lift), utilising 4,930
Mm3/yr of water. The main canal in the entire length was completed in
the year
References
• Anon. 1998. Statistical Abstract Rajasthan. Directorate of Economic
and Statistics, Rajasthan, Jaipur
• Balak Ram ,1999. Report on Wastelands in Hanumangarh district,
Rajasthan.CAZRI, Jodhpur
• 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, LR, 1982. Recent advances in Desert Afforestation, Dehradun