Rajasthan News Desk!!! Today we will know about the life-giving Indira Gandhi Canal of Rajasthan, which is the longest man-made canal in the world, that life-giving canal of Rajasthan which made the barren desert green, that area of Rajasthan where there were miles of barren land and sand. About Indira Gandhi Canal transforming lush green fields into barns.
When was the Indira Gandhi Canal built, how was it built in such an inaccessible desert and deadly heat, who built it, the story of its 949 kilometer long journey, the story of the Kaya Kalpa of Rajasthan, the story of the cities settled around this canal. So let us know the story of Indira Gandhi Canal, the lifeblood of Rajasthan.
Thar, located in Rajasthan, is the 17th largest desert in the world and the 9th largest hot desert in the world. When India and Pakistan were divided, the desert was also divided between the two countries, in which Pakistan got 15% of this desert, while India got 85% of it. The vast Thar desert, where nothing is visible except sandy shores for miles, was a part of Rajasthan where almost part of it remained barren and dry. Here people had to walk several miles to get drinking water. Finding water here in Rajasthan was like fighting a war.
In 1899, there was a severe famine in North India, Rajasthan was badly hit by this severe famine. Due to which Jaipur, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu and Bikaner areas of Rajasthan were severely affected by drought. Due to this famine occurring in Vikram Samvat 1956, it is also called ‘Chhappaniya famine’ in the local language. This famine was recorded in the British Gazetteer as ‘The Great Indian Famine 1899’. Taking lessons from the devastation caused by the famine, kings, emperors and administrators started planning measures to deal with such famines in the future. Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner was at the forefront of planning to deal with the famine and began considering a plan to bring water to Rajasthan through a canal. And this responsibility went to Kanwar Sen. The Maharaja wanted that after talks with Punjab, a canal could be constructed from the Sutlej River to Bikaner in Rajasthan, so that the people of Bikaner could get relief from the water problem. This canal came to be known as Ganga Canal and due to this canal, Rajasthan got the city Ganganagar which is called its food bowl.
The Ganga Canal had provided relief from the water problem in Bikaner but Maharaja Ganga Singh and Kanwar Sen wanted to relieve the entire Rajasthan from the water problem. To realize this dream, Maharaj Ganga Singh ji prepared a draft of a canal to bring water from Punjab to Rajasthan and presented it to the British government of that time. But in the year 1947, Maharaj Ganga Singh died due to cancer, after which his son Sadhul Singh became the new king of Bikaner. But with the independence of the country in 1947, the monarchy also ended, due to which this draft went into abeyance. After this, in the year 1948, Kanwar Sen once again presented the plan of this canal before the government to provide irrigation facility in an area of twenty thousand square kilometers, which was approved after a long discussion and on 31 March 1958, it was approved by the Union Home Minister. Govind Vallabh Pant laid its foundation stone and named it Rajasthan Canal. Along with this, Punjab had also agreed to provide water to Rajasthan like a good neighbour. For the water of this canal, it was decided to build Harike Barrage at the confluence of Sutlej and Beas rivers near Firazpur in Punjab. But even after approval and arrangement of water, the construction of this canal was not an easy task.
In the Thar Desert, making a canal by removing the soil from hundreds of kilometers of sandy banks and leveling them was a very difficult task in itself. The terrible heat and storms of the desert had made it almost impossible for the engineers and laborers to work here, apart from this, many laborers and engineers had died due to the terrible heat and terrible cold in winter. At that time there were neither modern machines nor sufficient resources. But while preparing the draft of the canal, Kanwar Singh had also kept in mind the environment here, that is why to deal with it, Kanwar Singh and his team used camels, called ships of the desert, to dig the land. When the work of digging the land was started with camels, the donkey, which is considered to be the most hardworking animal, also performed the work of carrying the goods very well. By working together on a war footing, camels and donkeys made the impossible task of digging and transporting soil possible. Had these animals not been there, it would have been impossible to build this canal. Countless animals lost their lives in building this canal but the work was not stopped.
Finally, after a long wait, sacrifice of hundreds of animals and people, the day that would be inscribed in golden letters for the Thar Desert came, when on January 1, 1987, the Himalayan water, cutting through the vast desert, reached Mohangarh in Jaisalmer after traveling a distance of 649 kilometers. This canal, which gives life to Rajasthan, is actually like a river due to its shape and length. This canal starts from Harike Barrage built at the confluence of Sutlej and Beas rivers near Firazpur in Punjab. This longest canal of the country is 649 kilometers long. An important thing to be understood here is that due to various natural obstacles, it was not possible to build this canal in one go. Therefore, it was completed in 2 different phases, in the first phase a 204 km long feeder canal was built from Punjab to Rajasthan, while in the second phase a 445 km long main canal was built. Of the 204 km long feeder canal built in its first phase, 170 km is in Punjab and Haryana and 34 km is in Rajasthan. Apart from the main feeder, a 189 km long main canal was also prepared in Rajasthan. The depth of this canal on the border of Rajasthan is 21 feet, the width of the bottom is 134 feet and the surface is 218 feet wide.
But in its first and second phase, the water of this canal could reach only up to Hanumangarh, now a big challenge was waiting for its builders to take it to Jaisalmer. The challenge was that this 145 long canal from Hanumangarh to Jaisalmer had to be built not in flat places but on a slope. After this the canal engineers met this challenge beyond everyone’s imagination by building an engineering lift canal in the desert districts. After the completion of the construction of this canal, it populated those areas of Rajasthan where it rained only 4 to 5 times in a year. Today, nine branches emerge from the main canal extending from Masitawali in Hanumangarh to Mohangarh in Jaisalmer. Its distributaries for irrigation are 9,245 kilometers long, which fulfills the water shortage in the lives of the people of ten desert districts of Rajasthan. Apart from this, this canal also provides water for many power projects.
It seems as if Rajasthan has got a new lease of life with the construction of this canal. Through this canal, the scorching and barren sands of the desert have today transformed into lush green fields, plains and cities. Due to this, rainfall in Rajasthan increased by 40 to 50 percent, while on the other hand, migration also reduced by 48 to 60 percent. Not only this, this area became so fertile that people from Punjab and Haryana also came here for farming and other employment. This canal has changed the fate and life of districts like Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Jaisalmer and Barmer of Rajasthan. The vast desert of Thar, where nothing was visible except sandy shores for miles, is now covered with greenery. Deserted areas have been populated and bumper agricultural produce is being produced. Because of this canal which became the lifeline of Rajasthan, the desert has now completely changed. The population of ten big cities including Jodhpur-Bikaner is completely dependent on the water of this canal for their water needs. Besides, this canal running exactly parallel to the India-Pakistan border also acts as a security line.
Today the desert districts of Rajasthan cannot be imagined without this canal. This canal brought water to an area where earlier there was barely ten inches of rainfall in a year. Now greenery is blooming everywhere in the desert. After the arrival of the canal the desert area completely changed. The population of the canal area increased rapidly, due to which many villages and towns developed. With the opening of new markets, many agro-based industries were established. The doors of employment opened for the people of desert areas who were dependent only on animal husbandry. Due to all this the scenario of this area has completely changed.
The canal area here started producing 37 lakh tonnes of agricultural produce annually. After the death of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on 2 November 1984, the state government changed its name from Rajasthan Canal to Indira Gandhi Canal. So friends, this was the story of Rajasthan Canal becoming Indira Gandhi Canal, thanks for watching the video, if you like this video then please give your opinion by commenting, subscribe to the channel, like the video, and share it with your friends and family. Please share it with us.
