Indira Gandhi Canal

History

1940-2010: Rajasthan Canal project

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 2,000,000 ha (20,000 km²) of desert land in Bikaner and the northwest corner of Jaisalmer could be irrigated by the stored waters of the 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 plan for the Rajasthan Canal at that time envisioned the use of 7,600,000 acre-feet (9.4×10⁹ m³), 9,400 hm³ of water.

The canal faced severe financial constraints, neglect, and corruption. Stage I was completed in 1983 around 20 years behind the completion schedule, stage .

The Canal was constructed in two stages.

1958-1986: Stage-I construction

Stage I consists of the construction of the

• Rajasthan Feeder Canal, from Harike barrage in Firozpur district of Punjab to Masitawali (Hanumangarh) in Rajasthan, and
• Indira Gandhi Main Canal's 189 km (117 mi) section from Masitawali (in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan) to Pugal (in Bikaner district of Rajasthan).
• Stage I also included constructing a distributary canal system of about 2,950 km (1,830 mi) in length.

Stage I was completed in 1983-86, more than 20 years behind the original completion schedule.

1992-2010: Stage-II construction

Stage II involved the construction of

• Indira Gandhi Main Canal's 256 km (159 mi) long section from Pugal (Bikaner) to Mohangarh (Jaisalmer)
• distributary canal network of 3,600 km (2,200 mi).
• revised distributary canal network: The main canal was planned to be 140 ft (43 m) wide at the top and 116 ft (35 m) wide at the bottom with a water depth of 21 ft (6.4 m). Scheduled to be completed by 1971, facing delays, the plan was revised in 1970, 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 100,000 ha (1,000 km²). With increased requirements, the total length of main, feeder, and distribution canals was about 9,245 km (5,745 mi).
• Stage II was completed in 2010, around 15 years behind the original completion schedule.

1984: Renamed as Indira Gandhi Canal

On 2 November 1984, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Rajasthan Canal was officially renamed as the Indira Gandhi Canal.

Course and branches

Main course

Indira Gandhi Canal's main course is divided into the following four subsections:

• Rajasthan Feeder Canal (RF Canal), N-SW flowing 204 kilometres (127 mi) long course begins in Punjab at Harike Barrage, immediate downstream from the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Ferozepur district at Harike village 35 km south of Taran Taran city and 45 km northeast of Firozpur city, and flows a short distance through northwest part of Haryana state, it ends at Masitawali village 30 km southeast of Hanumangarh city in northwest Rajasthan.

• Indira Gandhi Main Canal (IGM Canal), N-SW flowing 445 kilometres (277 mi) long course begins at Masitawali at the end of Rajasthan Feeder Canal and then it sequentially traverses through western districts of Rajasthan, namely Hanumangarh, Bikaner, Phalodi, Jaisalmer, before ending at Mohangarh village 60 km northeast of Jaisalmer city.

• Sagarmal Gopa Branch Canal (SGB Canal), E-W flowing 96 kilometres (60 mi) long course begins at Mohangarh at the end of Indira Gandhi Main Canal, and continues to flow west before ending at Gunjangarh-Ramgarh villages 70 km northwest of Jaisalmer city.

• Baba Ramdev Sub-branch Canal (BRSB Canal), N-S flowing 92 kilometres (57 mi), it begins at Gunjangarh-Ramgarh at the end of E-W flowing Sagarmal Gopa Branch Canal where it turns south and flows toward Gadra Road town (6 km from India–Pakistan border, 86 km west of Barmer city, and 40 km east of beating retreat border ceremony) at Munabao border crossing to Pakistan).

Branches

Indira Gandhi Main Canal

Indira Gandhi Main Canal has seven gravity branches mainly on the northern bank and seven lift irrigation branches mainly on the southern bank:

Gravity flow branch canals

Flow due to gravity without a lift irrigation system.

• North bank of Indira Gandhi Canal towards the India-Pakistan Border
  • Suratgarh Branch Canal (SB Canal) serves the Ganganagar district.
  • Anupgarh Branch Canal (AB Canal), serves the Ganganagar district.
  • Poogal Branch Canal (PB Canal) serves the Ganganagar district.
  • Dator Branch Canal (DB Canal), serves the Bikaner district.
  • Birsalpur Branch Canal (BS Canal) serves the Bikaner district.
  • Charanwal Branch Canal (CB Canal) serves Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts.
  • Shaheed Birbal Branch Canal (SBB Canal) serves Jaisalmer district.
• South bank of Indira Gandhi Canal towards Aravali range
  • Rawatsar Branch Canal (RB Canal) serves the Hanumangarh district.

Lift canals

There are a total of seven lift canals. These are all on the southern bank of the main Indira Gandhi Canal and require lift irrigation due to a lack of gravitational flow:

• Chaudhary Kumbha Ram Arya Lift Canal (Gandheli-Sahwa Lift Project or Aapni Scheme), irrigates Hanumangarh, Churu and Jhunjhunu districts, longest lift canal of Indira Gandhi Canal after counting all its subsidiary branches, named after Kumbha Ram Arya (10 May 1914 – 26 October 1995) - a freedom fighter and parliamentarian.
• Kanwar Sen Lift Canal, irrigates north-southern Bikaner, the longest stand-alone lift canal of Indira Gandhi Canal without counting its subsidiary branches, named after Kanwar Sen, who was the chief engineer in the Bikaner state who came up with the idea of Rajasthan Canal.
• Panna Lal Lift Canal, irrigates Nagaur district via southcentral Bikaner, named after Pannalal Barupal (6 April 1913 – 19 May 1983) - an independence activist and Indian politician representing the Ganganagar Lok Sabha seat.
• Veer Tejaji Lift Canal, irrigates southernmost Bikaner, the shortest Lift Canal, named after Veer Teja.
• Dr. Karni Singh Lift Canal, irrigates Phalodi and Jodhpur districts, named after Karni Singh (21 April 1924 – 6 September 1988) - last Maharaja of Bikaner State.
• Guru Jambheshwar Lift Canal, irrigates Phalodi district, named after Guru Jambheshwar.
• Jai Narayan Vyas Lift Canal, irrigates southeast Jaisalmer district, named after Jai Narayan Vyas (18 February 1899 – 14 March 1963) - third chief minister of the State of Rajasthan.

Sagarmal Gopa Branch Canal

Branches of Sagarmal Gopa Branch Canal (SGB Canal), which serves Jaisalmer district and is named after Sagarmal Gopa, are as follows.

• Lilwa Sub-Branch Canal (LSB Canal) also begins at Mihangarh, where Sagarmal Gopa Branch Canal begins.
• Digha Sub-Branch Canal (DSB Canal) also begins at Mohangarh, where Sagarmal Gopa Branch Canal begins.

Impact

After the construction of the Indira Gandhi Canal, potable drinking water and irrigation facilities became available over an area of 6,770 km² (1,670,000 acres) in Jaisalmer district and 37 km² (9,100 acres) in Barmer district. Mustard, cotton, and wheat now grow in this semi-arid Thar desert region of northwestern India, where nothing grew earlier. However, many people question whether the project has achieved its full potential, as more land can still be brought under irrigation if more water becomes available.

Future development

Revival of paleo rigvedic Sarasvati River

The research by the Vaidik Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan (lit. Vaidik Saraswati River Research Centre) at Jodhpur, Sarasvati Heritage Development Board (SHDB) at Kurukshetra, India's space agency ISRO, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) shows that the course of Indira Gandhi Canal follows one of the paleochannels of rigvedic Sarasvati River.

Joint efforts by several states en route, from the origin of its initial tributaries in Uttarakhand and Himachal, to its paleodelta in Gujarat, via Haryana (212 km revived channel), Punjab, Rajasthan, are on to map and revive the Rig Vedic flow till Gujarat and build religious tourism and irrigation-cum-flood control facilities along the way. The Sarasvati revival project of Haryana seeks to build channels and dams along the route of the lost river in Haryana, and develop it as a tourist and pilgrimage circuit. Downstream, Indira Gandhi Canal (Saraswati Rupa Rajasthan Canal) in Rajasthan through its tail in southern Barmer district and Great Rann of Kutch with ancient dock at Lothal (one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus-Saraswati Valley civilisation with trade links to Mesopotamia and Sumer) in Gujarat form the paleochannel of Saraswati.

Indus interbasin water transfer projects

India is embarking on several projects for the interbasin transfer of various rivers of the Indus system to the Indira Gandhi Canal and the Yamuna River.

• • Indus-Yamuna Link Canal (IYLC or IYL Canal or IY Link Canal): 200 km long canal, including 87 km link between Sutluj to Yamuna, will link the 3 western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab - which were exclusively for the use by Pakistan under the India-Pakistan Indus Water Treaty (IWT) until the IWT was put in abeyance in early 2025 by India in the aftermath of 2025 Pahalgam attack, with the three eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej - which were for the exclusive use of India under the IWT, and further west to Yamuna River.
    • Indus-Sutlej Link Canal (ISLC or ISL Canal or IS Link Canal), 113 km long canal component of the IYC Canal with 12 tunnels, will link the 3 western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, with the three eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej, by linking 13 existing canals along the way - which are being upgraded, to the terminal point of this new link canal the Indira Gandhi Canal at Harike Barrage on Sutlej river. Beginning June 2025, the 113 km long link canal project will be completed within 3 years by July 2028. Water from this new link canal will then be redistributed to 3 states - Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan - where the existing canal network is being upgraded and expanded. Pre-feasibility study for the new link canal began in June 2025.
  • Indus basin hydroelectric dam projects: Simultaneously, in 2025 the work on increasing the capacity of major dams in Indus basin, such as Uri, Dulhasti, Salal, Baglihar, Nimu Bajgo and Chutak is progressing rapidly, and the work on Kishanganga, Ratle, Pakal Dul and Tulbul dams will begin soon.