View source for Ganga Canal Rajasthan

{{short description|Irrigation system of canals}}
{{distinguish|Ganges Canal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox Canal
 | name             = Gang Canal (Bikaner canal)
 | image            = Gang Canal Rajasthan Sivender.jpg
 | image_caption    = Gang canal in northern-western area of district near Ganganagar
 | former_names     =
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 | mapframe         = yes
 | mapframe-zoom    = 7
 | original_owner   = [[Punjab, British India|Punjab]], [[Bikaner State]], [[Bahawalpur State]]
 | engineer         = 
 | other_engineer   =
 | date_act         =
 | date_began       = 5 December 1925
 | date_use         = 26 October 1927
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 | start_point      = {{coord|30.9896|74.5538}}
 | original_start   =
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 | end_point        = {{coord|29.4939|73.6423}}
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}}

The '''Ganga Canal''' (also called '''Gang Canal''') of [[Rajasthan]]<ref name="Hillel2016">{{citation| first=Daniel | last = Hillel |title=Advances in Irrigation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQXgBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132|year=2016|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-1-4832-1527-3|page=132}}</ref> is an irrigation system of canals in the present district of [[Sri Ganganagar]] fed from the [[Sutlej River]] from [[Ferozepur Headworks]] 10&nbsp;km northwest of [[Firozpur]] in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] state, close to the [[India–Pakistan border]], and passes through the [[Faridkot district|Faridkot]], [[Fazilka]] and [[Muktsar district]]s of Punjab before entering Rajasthan in [[Ganganagar district]] and ends in [[Hanumangarh district]]. It was constructed in the early twentieth century by [[Ganga Singh]], the king of erstwhile [[Bikaner state|Bikaner princely state]].

==History==

In the [[Indian famine of 1899–1900]], the Bikaner princely state was one of the most affected area. In 1903, the [[East India Company]], with the aim of eliminating the problem of famine caused by [[water scarcity]], obtained the services of A.W.E. Standley, Chief Engineer of Punjab, to conduct the feasibility study on [[interbasin transfer]] of water from Satluj river to the northwestern area (present day Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts) of the Bikaner princely state. Subsequently, Mr. R. G. Kennedy, then Chief Engineer of Punjab, prepared the technical plan for the construction, however the project was delayed due to the objection raised by the erstwhile Muslim [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|State of Bahawalpur]]. Consequently, with intervention of then [[viceroy of India]], [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]], in 1906, a tripartite conference was held and an agreement was signed on 4 September 1920 to resolve the issue. The foundation stone of the Canal Head Works at Ferozepur was laid on 5 December 1925 and the work completed in 1927 by constructing 89 miles of lined canal. The opening ceremony was performed on 26 October 1927 by [[Lord Irwin]], the then viceroy of India.{{citation needed|date=February 2026}} The cost of whole project was Rupees 310.97 Lakhs up to 1943. Another 60 Lakhs were spent on development of Gang Colony and [[Bikaner Junction railway station|railways]].{{sfn|Sehgal|1972|p=129}}

During the [[Partition of India]], Sir [[Cyril Radcliffe]], the chairman of the [[Radcliffe Line#Events leading up to the Radcliffe Boundary Commissions|Punjab Boundary Commission]], initially considered awarding the [[Ferozpur District|Ferozpur and Zira tehsils]] of the Ferozpur District to Pakistan. This would have put the headwaters of the Ganga Canal in the territory of Pakistan. Bikaner's prime minister [[K. M. Panikkar]] warned the Viceroy [[Lord Mountbatten]] that the Bikaner state would have no choice but to [[Princely states of Pakistan|accede]] the Bikaner princely state to Pakistan in the event of the headwaters going to Pakistan. [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] also wrote to the Viceroy stating that it would be "most dangerous" for the Ferozpur district to go to Pakistan for "strategic and irrigation reasons". Subsequently, Radcliffe removed the salient and awarded the entire Ferozpur district to India.{{sfn|Wolpert|2009|pp=167–168}}

== Impact ==

The canal irrigates 303,000 hectares of land, roughly equivalent to that of the [[Upper Bari Doab Canal]] in Punjab in India.<ref name="Hillel2016"/> After construction of the canal, many people from south Punjab migrated to this area in Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, the state administration facilitated several facilities for them. With availability of water from canal, Ganganagar and Hanumangarh districts transformed into rich land and became the granary of Rajasthan.{{sfn|Sehgal|1972|p=44}}

== See also ==

* [[List of canals in India]]
** Rajasthan
*** [[Narmada Canal]], in Rajasthan and Gujarat
*** [[Ramjal Setu link project]] (ERCP), in Chambal river basin in eastern Rajasthan
*** [[Indira Gandhi Canal]] (Rajasthan Canal) in Indus river basin in western Rajasthan
** [[Indus Water Treaty]] (IWT), impacts water supply in Rajasthan
* [[List of rivers in India]]
** [[List of rivers of Rajasthan]]
** [[Rivers of Jammu and Kashmir|Rivers and dams of Jammu and Kashmir]]
** [[Rigvedic rivers]]
* [[Ministry of Jal Shakti]]
** [[Irrigation in India]]
** [[Indian rivers interlinking project|river interlinking project]]
** [[List of dams and reservoirs in India]]
** [[List of megaprojects in India]]
* [[Radcliffe Line]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Sehgal |first=K.K. | title=Rajasthan &#91;district Gazetteers&#93;.: Ganganagar | publisher=Printed at Government Central Press | series=Gazetteer of India | year=1972 | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.146811 |via=archive.org}}
* {{citation |last=Wolpert |first=Stanley |title=Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuoMsBWCTBUC |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |page=167 |isbn=9780195393941 }}

==External links==
* [https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/17900490 Ganga Canal marked on OpenStreetMap]

{{Hydrography of Rajasthan}}

{{coord|30.9896|N|74.5538|E|display=title|region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki}}

[[Category:Sri Ganganagar district]]
[[Category:Canals in Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Irrigation canals]]
[[Category:Canals opened in 1927]]
[[Category:Canals in Punjab, India]]