Question

Answer the following question in about 30 words.

What are the positive impacts of irrigation on the Indira Gandhi Canal Command Area?

Answer 1

Indira Gandhi Canal, previously known as the Rajasthan Canal, is one of the largest canal systems in India. The canal originates at the Harike barrage in Punjab and runs parallel to the Pakistan border at an average distance of 40 km in the Thar Desert (Marusthali) of Rajasthan. The introduction of canal irrigation in this dry land has transformed its ecology, economy, and society. It has influenced the region’s environmental conditions both positively and negatively. The availability of soil moisture for a longer period and various afforestation and pasture development programmes under CAD have resulted in land greening. This has also helped reduce wind erosion and siltation in canal systems. It has led to a tremendous increase in agricultural and livestock production. The spread of canal irrigation has led to an increase in cultivated area and intensity of cropping. The traditional crops, such as gram, bajra, and jowar, have been replaced by wheat, cotton, groundnut, and rice.