Indira Gandhi Canal

Indira Gandhi Canal is one of the biggest canal projects in India.It starts from the Harike Barrage, 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 total 650 kilometers and terminates near Jaisalmer, in Rajasthan.

Its construction started in 1958. It is built with the aim to convert the part of Thar desert from wasteland to agriculturally productive area. It was earlier known as Rajasthan Canal. The name was changed in 1984.

It uses water released from Pong dam and will provide irrigation facilities to the north-western region of Rajasthan, i.e., a part of the Thar Desert. It consists of Rajasthan feeder canal (with the first 167 km in Punjab and Haryana and the remaining 37 km in Rajasthan) and 445 km in Rajasthan main canal entirely in Rajasthan.

Green revolution in Rajasthan

After completion of Indira Gandhi Canal, irrigation facilities would be available in an area of 6770 km² in Jaisalmer district and 37 km² in Barmer district. Irrigation facility has already been provided in an area of 3670 km² in Jaisalmer 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 where nothing but sand ruled the roost for years. Indira Gandhi canal has transformed northern part of Arid Rajasthan into Green and Granary. It seems to be changing the face of Rajasthan's deserts.

Improvement in living standard

Besides providing water for the crops, the canal would supply drinking water to hundreds of people in the 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.

and dune stabilization

Indira Gandhi Canal is a major step to reclaim the Thar Desert and check spreading of desert to the fertile areas. Planting programme for greening the desert in Indira Gandhi Canal areas were started in 1965 by way of planting of shelterbelts along roads and canals, block plantations and sand dune stabilization to check the spread of desert. 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. Waterlogging problem has caused due to excessive irrigation, seepage from canals and lack of drainage. These factors resulted into the rise of water table, then development of salinity and finally the submergence of the land.Salinisation has also been resulted due to cultivation of more water requiring crops like wheat and rice for economic gains.

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