Pragnya IAS · Map 81 · Regional case studies
Indira Gandhi Canal command area: from Harike to the Thar map study
Follow one of the world’s longest irrigation canals as it pushes agriculture into the desert.
STUDY NOTE 1
The engineering line
The canal draws water from the Harike barrage at the Satluj-Beas confluence and runs about 650 km through Punjab and Rajasthan deep into the Thar.
STUDY NOTE 2
Desert into farmland
The command area transformed Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Ganganagar districts — mustard, cotton and wheat now grow where dunes stood; Ganganagar became a grain-surplus district.
STUDY NOTE 3
The ecological bill
Waterlogging, salinisation and canal-bank displacement of desert ecology follow big irrigation — every command-area map has two stories.
Map reading task
Trace the canal from Harike to its tail and mark one benefit and one cost at three points along it.
Map key · Reference locations
What does this indira gandhi canal command area: from harike to the thar lesson explain?
The canal draws water from the Harike barrage at the Satluj-Beas confluence and runs about 650 km through Punjab and Rajasthan deep into the Thar.
UPSC map practice & Geography Optional connection
For UPSC Prelims, pair the location with its state, neighbouring relief and relevant geographic process. For GS I and Geography Optional Indian geography revision, use a simple labelled sketch to explain the relationship rather than replacing the answer with place names. These are Pragnya-authored exercises, not official UPSC previous-year questions.
References & map credits
Pragnya IAS explanations and practice are independently authored. The uploaded geography compilation informed topic selection only; its pages, illustrations, advertisements and personal watermarks are not republished. Licensed base data retain their original attribution. These lessons are educational references, not navigation, legal boundary or live hazard maps.