Canal Irrigation in other States

Punjab and Haryana Due to flat nature of the ground, perennial flow of rivers and the fertile alluvial soil, the canal system is mostly suitable for these states. A special feature of the system is that all the rivers have been inter-connected by means of canals so that the water resources of these are pooled together for maximum utilisation. The Upper Bari Doab Canal, first of its kind in India, was completed in 1859 over the Ravi river at Madhopur; The main canal and its distributaries irrigate land in Amritsar and Gurdaspur district~. The Western Yamuna Canal, one of the oldest canal systems in India, is constructed at Tejwala In Haryana. It irrigates land in the districts of Patiala in Punjab and Ambala, Rohtak, Kamal, Jind and Hissar districts. The Sirhind Canal was constructed in 1884. It takes off from the Satluj at Ropar, and irrigates over six lakh hectare of land in the districts of Ludhiana, Ferozepur, and Patiala in Punjab and Jind (Haryana). The Bhakra Canal, constructed in 1964, irrigates large tracts of agri­cultural land in Punjab and Haryana. It takes water from the Bhakra dam. The Nangal Canal is a continuation of the ~hakra canal and irrigates land in the districts of Jafandhar, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Patiala.

Uttar Pradesh In Uttar Pradesh canal irrigation is gaining importance day by day and is significant in drought prone areas. The Upper and Lower Ganga Canals are the oldest and the most dependable canal systems in Uttar Pradesh. Upper Ganga canal takes off from Ganga near Hardwar while the Lower Ganga canal starts from Narora. The Eastern Yamuna Canal takes off from River Yamuna near Faizabad and irrigates land in the districts of Muzaffamagar, Saharanpur, Meerut and Delhi. The Agra Canal takes off frbm the Yamuna at Okhla and irrigates land in the districts of Mathura, Gurgaon, Agra, Bharatpur and Delhi. The Sharda Canal takes off from River Sharda at Baubasa. This old canal irrigates large tracts of Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Faizabad districts.

Bihar In Bihar the canal system is moderately developed. Most of the canals are of the perennial type. The Sone Canals derive their water from a
weir across River Sone near Dehri and this water is utilised for irrigating land in the Ganga, Patna and Shahabad districts. The Triveni Canal takes off from River Triveni and
is used in Champaran district.

West Bengal Canal systems in the state were devel­oped only during the First Five Year Plan. Most of the canals in the state were constructed by the Damodar Valley Corporation. Two other barrages have been constructed on the Mayurakshi, Kangsabati and Tista rivers.
Orissa and Andhra Pradesh The famous Hirakud project and Mahanadi canal are supplying ample irrigation water to Puri, Cuttack and Sambalpur districts in Orissa. In Andhra Pradesh, Krishna and Godavari, two large river systems, are providing ample water for irrigational pur­pose.

Kerala Malampuzha canal system in Palakkad district, Periyar canal in Kozhikode district, and Pamba canal in Kollam district are the major irrigational canals.

Rajasthan Here the rainfall is scanty and the area is drought prone. A majDr share of Bhakra canal water flows through Rajasthan. The oldest canal system of Rajasthan is the Ganganagar canal. Other noted canal systems are Jawai canal, Chambal projects and the newly constructed Rajasthan Canal Project (Indira Gandhi canals).

The detrimental effects of canal irrigation, however, make canals a problematic source. Overflooding of canals, coupled with the absence of lining of canal beds, leads to the seepage of water into adjoining water tables; and if the water table is close to the surface, to salinisation of soil cover through capillary action. The saturation of water table leads to waterlogging and subsequently to the swamping of land, leaving it unsuitable for cultivation or habitation. Waterlogging and salination have left six million hectare area as waste, a third of it lying in the northern plains.

Scientific water management practices are required to overcome such effects. Drip-irrigation and sprinklers are two such methods. The Command Areas Development Programme has efficient and scientific water management as one of the objectives.