RAS question
From which canal does the Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal in Rajasthan draw its water?
Correct answer: (C) Indira Gandhi Canal (IGNP).
The Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal in Rajasthan draws its water from the Indira Gandhi Canal, also known as IGNP.
Explanation
Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal and Indira Gandhi Canal are not the same canal: the lift canal is linked to IGNP and draws water from it. The Ground Water Department, Government of Rajasthan's Jodhpur groundwater report states that Kailana Lake is fed directly by the Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal, locally known as Hathi Canal, and that this lift canal takes water from the Indira Gandhi Canal. In its inflow-outflow section, the same report says the Kailana-Takhatsagar Reservoir receives inflow from the Indira Gandhi Canal through the Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal by pumping. For Jodhpur region water supply, including Kailana, Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal is the carrier, while IGNP is the source canal.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Jakham Lift Canal belongs to southern Rajasthan's tribal-area context, not to the IGNP-linked Jodhpur water-supply system served by Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal.
- (B) The Narmada Canal Rajasthan section is a separate project entering Rajasthan in Jalore from Gujarat, so it is not the source canal for Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal.
- (D) Bisalpur Canal is associated with drinking-water supply to Jaipur and Ajmer, not with the Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal feeding the Jodhpur region.
Concept
Rajasthan irrigation and drinking-water infrastructure includes interlinked canal systems that serve arid western districts. RAS repeats such facts because canal-source relationships are easy to confuse when lift canals, reservoirs, and command-area projects are named separately.