RAS question
The Indira Gandhi Canal (Rajasthan Canal) draws water from which river?
Correct answer: (A) Sutlej.
The Indira Gandhi Canal, earlier called the Rajasthan Canal, draws water from the Sutlej at Harike Barrage, just below the Sutlej-Beas confluence in Punjab.
Explanation
The Indira Gandhi Canal is linked to the Sutlej because its origin is Harike Barrage in Punjab, a few kilometres below the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers. The Central Water Commission report identifies it as India's longest canal and describes it as carrying water towards the Thar Desert in north-west Rajasthan. The canal is not fed by a Rajasthan river inside the desert belt, but by the river system at Harike in Punjab. Its purpose is also geographical rather than merely administrative: it takes canal water into semi-arid and arid western Rajasthan, where the Central Water Commission report notes that barren desert areas have been transformed into fertile fields.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Yamuna is not the source named for the Indira Gandhi Canal; the canal originates at Harike Barrage below the Sutlej-Beas confluence.
- (C) Chambal belongs to south-eastern Rajasthan, while the Indira Gandhi Canal carries water from Harike towards the Thar Desert region.
- (D) Luni is a small inland river of western Rajasthan, whereas the canal's source is Harike Barrage in Punjab.
Concept
Rajasthan's irrigation geography includes external river water transfers into the Thar Desert. The Indira Gandhi Canal recurs in RAS because it links river systems, desert agriculture and regional development in one high-yield fact.