Question:easy

The longest irrigation canal in India is called

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It was once called the Rajasthan Canal and carries Sutlej and Beas water into the Thar desert.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • Upper Bari Doab Canal
  • Indira Gandhi Canal
  • Sirhind Canal
  • Yamuna Canal
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

All four canals are real north Indian irrigation works. The winner is decided purely by length, so recall the scale of each project.

  1. Upper Bari Doab Canal: Fed from the Ravi at Madhopur, this canal waters the doab between the Ravi and the Beas in Punjab. It is an old and useful system but only a few hundred kilometres of main line at most.
  2. Indira Gandhi Canal: Formerly the Rajasthan Canal, it begins at the Harike Barrage in Punjab below the junction of the Beas and the Sutlej and pushes water across the Thar desert towards Jaisalmer. The feeder and main canal together run to about 650 km, the longest in the country, and the project brought irrigation to Sri Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner and Jaisalmer.
  3. Sirhind Canal: This canal starts at Ropar on the Sutlej and serves farms in Punjab and Haryana. It is an important canal, but its length does not come near the Rajasthan desert canal.
  4. Yamuna Canal: The Western and Eastern Yamuna canals date back centuries and irrigate Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Age is not length, and they are far shorter than the Indira Gandhi Canal.

By length the Indira Gandhi Canal is far ahead, so option (B) is correct.

Let's summarize:

  • Indira Gandhi Canal: from Harike Barrage to the Thar desert, about 650 km with the feeder, longest in India.
  • Upper Bari Doab, Sirhind and Yamuna canals are much shorter Punjab and Haryana systems.

So the longest irrigation canal in India is the Indira Gandhi Canal.

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