Indira Gandhi (Rajasthan) Canal Project is the largest irrigation project of the world to provide irrigation to semi-arid and arid areas of Rajasthan and give a face lift to its economy and economic development. The project utilises the waters of the Pong barrage built over the Beas River.
It comprises Rajasthan Feeder taking off from the Harike barrage across the Satluj River near its confluence with the Beas River in Punjab, the Rajasthan Main Canal and its distributaries.
The Rajasthan Feeder extends for 204 km, the first 167 km of which lies in Punjab and Haryana and remaining 37 km in Rajasthan. It is fully lined masonry canal which is not utilised for irrigation. It feeds the Rajasthan Main Canal which is 445 km long and lies entirely in Rajasthan about 40-64 km away from the international boundary with Pakistan. The first stage involves the construction of the entire length of the Rajasthan Feeder, 189 km long Rajasthan Main and about 3,123 km long distributaries.
The second stage includes the construction of the remaining part of the Rajasthan Main Canal and about 5,409 km long distributaries. The Indira Gandhi Canal, when completed, would provide irrigation to about 12.58 lakh hectares of land in Ganganagar, Bikaner, and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan.
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The construction work under stage I has been nearly completed. The canal command area and intensity of irrigation are 5, 28,000 hectares and 110 per cent respectively. Out of it 46,000 hectares are irrigated by Kanwar Sen Lift Scheme. The construction work of stage-II is in progress. This stage would cover a canal command area of 10, 95,000 ha (3, 01,000 ha by 5 lift schemes) at 80 per cent intensity of irrigation.
The main positive effects of Indira Gandhi Canal Project after the commencement of irrigation in 1961 include: (1) the canal water is available for drinking and other domestic uses. (2) The crops can be grown every year with the help of canal water. (3) Rapid rise in the population increase in the number of villages, new colonies and mandies. (4) Change in socio-economic conditions of the people and spurt in all economic activities. (5) Improvement in household income and expenditure structure. (6) Change in attitude and life style of people resulting into greater urge for education and rise in mobility and communication. (7) Increase in ‘heterogeneity’ of population, enhanced inters and intra community interaction and quicker diffusion and adoption of technology of irrigated farming. (8) Control over drought conditions. (9) Change in the fauna of the area and introduction of fisheries. (10) Improvement in the micro-climate and decrease in the incidence of sand storms. (11) Rise in ground water table at the rate of 0.8 meter per year. (Ansari, 1997, pp. 85-86). But excessive use of canal water in certain areas is causing the problem of salinity and water logging.