RAS question
The Narmada Canal Project in Rajasthan primarily benefits which district?
Correct answer: (D) Jalore and Barmer.
In Rajasthan, the Narmada Canal Project primarily benefits Jalore and Barmer districts.
Explanation
The Narmada Canal Project is linked to water brought from the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat into Rajasthan. The PIB release supports the key locator: the Narmada Main Canal off-takes from Sardar Sarovar Dam, reaches the Gujarat-Rajasthan border after passing through Gujarat, and then extends 74 km inside Rajasthan to irrigate areas in Barmer and Jalore districts. That is why the primary-benefit answer is not a single interior city or an eastern Rajasthan district, but the border districts named together in the project entry. For Rajasthan, the project serves drinking-water and irrigation purposes, so the benefit is understood through district-wise command and supply impact rather than canal alignment alone.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Udaipur is outside the Barmer-Jalore beneficiary area specified for the Rajasthan stretch of the Narmada Canal Project.
- (B) Jodhpur is not part of the Rajasthan beneficiary pair specified for the Narmada Canal Project; the relevant districts are Jalore and Barmer.
- (C) Jaipur is in eastern Rajasthan and is not connected with the Narmada Canal Project benefit area described for Jalore and Barmer.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan irrigation geography, especially inter-State river-canal projects and their district-wise command areas. It recurs in RAS because canal projects link physical geography with drinking-water supply, irrigation, and regional development.