Irrigation and Canals of India – Old Year Questions

• The Jawai Project is based at the Jawai River in Rajasthan, which is a part of the Luni river system.
• The Ukai Canal Project was built by creating a dam on the Tapti River in Gujarat.
• The Ghatprabha Canal Project is located in Karnataka, at the Ghataprabha river, and the Nira Canal Project is situated in Maharashtra, at the Nira river, which is a tributary of Krishna.

• In Peninsular India, ponds are a major source of irrigation due to the hills and rocky terrain that make it difficult to dig canals and wells.
• Furthermore, most rivers in the area are seasonal and become dry in the summer, so they cannot be used for irrigation.
• Therefore, ponds are the main source of water.
• So, Reason (R) also explains assertion (A).

• In 2014-15, tubewells were the biggest source of irrigation, covering 46.2% of the total irrigated land.
• Wells, canals, and tanks together provided irrigation for 62.82%, 23.66%, and 2.52% of the total irrigated area, respectively.
• Other methods of irrigation were used to water the rest of the land.

• The cropped area under irrigation (2011) as as follows –

States                       2011              2016-17 (P)

• • Haryana                    83.90%           90.4%
  • Uttar Pradesh          72.76%            80.3%
  • Madhya Pradesh     28.20%           44.1%
  • Maharashtra            16.78%            19.5%
• Note – According to 2016-17 (P) data, highest percentage of cropped area under irrigation is of Punjab (98.8%). Haryana is at second (90.4%) place.

• Punjab has the most irrigated land in India, amounting to 98.7%.

• Using micro-irrigation can help reduce the loss of fertilizers and nutrients.
• In certain agricultural areas, micro-irrigation can help keep the ground water level steady since it uses water efficiently.
• Therefore, statements 1 and 3 are correct, but statement 2 is not.

• Irrigation at Permanent Wilting Point (PWP) is referred to as life-saving or protective irrigation.
• This is when the soil moisture is so low that plants can no longer survive, and irrigation is needed to keep them alive.

• Tubewell irrigation has grown a lot in the Saryupar plain because of the lack of canals.
• This means that people in this area have to use tube wells for irrigation.
• Therefore, option (c) is the right answer.

• In the mentioned states, Uttar Pradesh has the highest area of land that is irrigated by tubewells – 74.9%.

• Uttar Pradesh has the most tube wells and wells used for irrigation in all of India.

• The net area under irrigation and area irrigated by tubewells for the above states for the year 2014-15 is as follows –

State  Net Irrigation Net Area (2014-15)  Net Area under Tube-well  irrigation (2014-15) (In thousand Hectare)

Uttar Pradesh                  (14389)                 (10183)

Punjab                                 (4118)                    (2943)

Bihar                                    (2987)                   (1860)

Haryana                             (2974)                    (1818)

• Captain Dinshaw J. Dastur had an idea of the Garland Canal System in India.
• M. Visvesvaraya, an irrigation engineer, was the first person to come up with the concept of linking rivers.
• K.L. Rao then suggested a different plan for connecting rivers, but both of these plans were rejected by the Water Resource Ministry.

• Sir Arthur Cotton was a British engineer who dedicated his life to making irrigation and navigation canals in India while under British rule.
• He is known as the first person to create irrigation systems in South India.

• Minor irrigation projects include any groundwater and surface water plans that have an area for cultivation of up to 2,000 hectares.
• This includes dug wells, private shallow tube wells, deep public tubewells, boring and deepening of dugwells, storage tanks, and lift irrigation projects.
• These small irrigation projects make up 62% of India’s irrigation potential.

• The Farakka Barrage Project was set up in 1975 at Farakka in Murshidabad, West Bengal to help the Calcutta Port stay in good condition.
• The project also aimed to make it easier to navigate the Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system.
• The Farakka canal has the capacity to carry 40,000 cusecs.

• In Palakkad district of Kerala, eleven irrigation projects along the Bharathapuzha river and its smaller rivers have been finished.
• A few of these projects include:
  • Mangal Irrigation Project
  • Walyar Irrigation Project
  • Malampuzha Irrigation Project
  • Cheera Kuzhi Irrigation Project
  • Gayatri Irrigation Project
  • Pothundi Irrigation Project

• A large dam has been constructed across the Gandak River in Balmiki Nagar.
• Several canals have been taken from here, with the Saran Irrigation Canal being one of them.
• The dam is 740 metres long.

• The Triveni Canal was built in the northwest of Bihar to provide water for irrigation.
• It is part of the Chandan Irrigation Project.

• The Indira Gandhi Canal starts at the Harike Barrage near the place where the Satluj and Beas rivers meet in the Firozpur district of Punjab.
• Its main canal system is 649 km long.
• Areas in the western part of Rajasthan, such as Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer districts of western Rajasthan are mainly irrigated by Indira Gandhi Canal.

• The Indira Gandhi Canal starts at Harike Barrage near the meeting of the Satluj and Beas rivers in the Firozpur district of Punjab.
• The length of the main canal is 649 km.
• Mainly, the areas of Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer districts in western Rajasthan are mainly irrigated by Indira Gandhi Canal.

• The Indira Gandhi Canal begins at the junction of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Firozpur district, Punjab.
• It stretches 649 km in length and provides water to Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer districts of western Rajasthan for irrigation.

• Kanwar Sain had the idea for the canal.
• It starts at Harike Barrage in Punjab and runs alongside the Pakistan border.

• The Indira Gandhi Canal gets its water from the Satluj, Beas and Ravi rivers.

• The Buckingham canal is a 796 km long freshwater canal that runs along the Coromandel coast, from Kakinand in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh to the Viluppuram district in Tamil Nadu.
• It links most of the coastal backwaters with the port of Chennai.

• The Beas project is a collaboration between the States of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
• For this project, a dam was built on the Pong river to help keep the water flowing in Indira Gandhi canal during the winter.

• Gang Canal is a very old irrigation system in Rajasthan that was finished in 1927.
• It was built by Maharaja Shri Ganga Singh of Bikaner.
• It starts from Hussainiwala at Firozpur on the Sutlej River.
• The Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana was begun on the 30th of March 1958 by the Home Minister Govind Ballabh Pant.
• It was sourced from Harike Dam in Punjab at the meeting point of the Satluj and Beas rivers.

• Gang Canal is a very old irrigation system in Rajasthan which was built in 1927 by Maharaja Shri Ganga Singh of Bikaner.
• It started at Hussainiwala at Firozpur on the Sutlej River.
• The foundation of the Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana was in 1958 by the Home Minister Govind Ballabh Pant and its source is the Harike Dam in Punjab, where the Satluj and Beas rivers meet.

• The Indian Government started the Command Area Development Programme (CADP) in December 1974 to make the best use of irrigation potential and increase crop production from watered areas using an organized and effective water management system.
• Different aspects of the programme include building of field channels, drains, enforcing warabandi, land levelling, changing crop patterns, and improving extension services.
• Three projects were launched – Sharda tributary, Ramganga and Gandak.
• All statements in the question are correct.

• The water of the Ghaggar river is not used in the Indira Gandhi Canal, so statement (a) is incorrect.
• Statement (b) is correct, as the Narmada river rises from the Maikal Range near Amarkantak in the Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh.
• Statement (c) is also correct, as the Nizam Sagar Dam is located in the Nizamabad district of Telangana, and the Manjra river (a tributary of the Godavari) flows between the villages Achampet and Banjapalle in the district.
• The main tributaries of the Godavari river are the Manjra, Penganga, Wardha, Wainganga, Pranhita, Indravati, Maner and Sabri river.

• The Lower Ganga Canal gets its water from the Ganga river near Narora in Bulandshahar.
• It was finished in 1878 and is about 98.8 km long.

• The Hariyali scheme was started by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister, on 27 January, 2003.
• It is part of the watershed management project and is being used in 2.32 lakh villages across India.
• This project encourages people to plant more trees.

• The ‘Hariyali’ scheme was started by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 27 January, 2003 as part of a watershed management project.
• It is being implemented in 2.32 lakh village councils across the country and encourages people to plant more trees.

• Until April 1, 2008, the Indian government had three separate programs to develop rural areas –
  • Integrated Wastelands Development Programme
  • Drought Prone Areas Programme
  • Desert Development Programme
• Since then, all these programs have been combined into one called Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP).
• The main goal of IWMP is to improve the environment by protecting and developing natural resources like soil, plants and water.
• This helps to prevent soil run-off, rebuild vegetation, collect rainwater, and raise groundwater levels.
• This makes it possible to grow more crops and do different kinds of farming that can help people living in the watershed area to have a better life.
• Statement 2 is not part of the benefits of IWMP.

• The Department of Land Resources, part of the Indian Government’s Ministry of Rural Development, created three programs –
  • Integrated Wastelands Development Program
  • Drought Prone Areas Program
  • Desert Development Program
• Which were then combined into one big program called Integrated Watershed Management Program in 2008.
• The Ministry of Agriculture also created a program called National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas(NWDPRA).

• Drip irrigation is a way to water plants in a way that uses less water and fertilizer.
• It has a lot of benefits, including better use of available water, higher crop production, fewer weeds, less soil erosion, lower labor costs, less fertilizer runoff, less water evaporating, and improved seed germination.
• Therefore, statements 1 and 3 are correct and ‘c’ is the right answer.

• The Chambal Canal Irrigation Project is linked to the Yamuna Basin.
• The Chambal River is part of the Yamuna River and also a part of the Ganges River.
• Both Yamuna Basin and Ganges Basin are connected, but the most appropriate answer is Yamuna Basin.
• Both (b) and (c) are both correct due to the uncertainty of the question.

• In India, the most water used for irrigation is in farming.
• It’s important to note that each year, India gets about 3880 billion cubic meters of water from rain.