Indira Gandhi Canal Project

The Indira Gandhi Canal was built to support irrigation in the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, India's westernmost state. The project was originally known as the Rajasthan Canal, but it was renamed in 1984 as a tribute and honor after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. The origin of this canal is from the Harike barrage, Harike situated in Punjab. 

Background

Kanwar Sain conceived it in 1948, and it was first broadcast on March 31, 1958.

The canal begins from the Harike Barrage in Punjab and goes about 40 kilometers in the Thar Desert (Marusthali) of Rajasthan, parallel to the Pakistan border.

The system's overall projected length is 9,060 kilometers, and it will serve the irrigation needs of a total culturable command area of 19.63 million hectares.

The flow system was supposed to irrigate around 70% of the total command area, while the lift system was supposed to irrigate the rest.

There are two stages to the construction process:

STAGE - I

1. The command area of Stage-I lies in Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, and the northern part of the Bikaner districts.

2. It's a gently undulating topography, and its culturable command area is 5.53 lakh hectares.

STAGE - II

1. Stage II's command area spans the districts of Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, and Churu, encompassing 14.10 lakh hectares.

2. It consists of desert territory scattered with shifting dunes, with summer temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius.

3. The water is hoisted in the lift canal to make it flow against the land's slope.

4. The Indira Gandhi Canal system's lift canals all originate on the left bank of the main canal, while the flow canals all originate on the right side.