The Mahi Bajaj Sagar Project is a joint venture of –
- (1)Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat
- (2)Gujarat and Rajasthan
- (3)Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
- (4)Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
Answer
Why
Correct — option (2), Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Mahi Bajaj Sagar Project, on the Mahi in Banswara district, is shared by Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Banswara District Gazetteer describes the Mahi multipurpose project, begun in 1959-60, as a masonry dam across the Mahi with a canal system for Banswara. Of 1.71 thousand million cubic metres of live storage, 1.28 thousand million cubic metres of average annual supply was to be provided to Gujarat.
The Gazetteer adds that Gujarat's share was to pass through a hydel channel and generate power for Banswara and Dungarpur districts.
The river explains the pair. Per the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas of Rajasthan, the Mahi rises in western Madhya Pradesh, enters Rajasthan in Banswara district near Chandangarh and leaves the state at Salakari village; the Banswara Gazetteer says it then flows through Gujarat.
The dam is in Rajasthan; the partner that shares its water is Gujarat, downstream.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat — This option adds Punjab to the real pair. Punjab lies outside the Mahi basin: the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas places the basin's upstream part outside Rajasthan in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and the river flows on through Gujarat.
One extra state is enough to make the option wrong, even though Rajasthan and Gujarat are both named.
- (3)Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh — This option adds Madhya Pradesh, where the Mahi rises. A state can lie in the basin without sharing the project.
The Banswara Gazetteer's account divides the reservoir's water between irrigation in Banswara and supply to Gujarat; it names no share for Madhya Pradesh.
- (4)Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — This pair fits the Mahi's course upstream, not the project. The river rises in Madhya Pradesh, but the Mahi Bajaj Sagar dam stands in Banswara district.
Its water is shared with Gujarat, downstream, which this option leaves out.
Concept
The Mahi rises in the western part of Madhya Pradesh, enters Rajasthan in Banswara district near Chandangarh and leaves the state at Salakari village, per the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas of Rajasthan. From there it flows through Gujarat.
In Banswara its main tributaries are the Anas, Hiran, Eru and Chap. In Dungarpur district the main tributary is the Som, which the Jakham joins upstream.
In the 2013 atlas, the Mahi basin in Rajasthan covers about 16,630 sq km across Banswara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh and Udaipur districts; it places the basin's upstream part outside Rajasthan, 8,864 sq km, in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
RPSC's 2023 Prelims syllabus lists "Major Irrigation Projects & Water Conservation Techniques" under the Geography of Rajasthan. Multipurpose river projects, and the states that share them, fall under that head.
For southern Rajasthan the Mahi project is also a development scheme. The Banswara Gazetteer described it as one which "holds out hopes of prosperity for the tribal population of the district".
The reservoir also serves fisheries. Rajasthan's Economic Review 2022-23 names Mahi Bajaj Sagar (Banswara) among three reservoirs where a 'livelihood model' for tribal fishermen was being implemented, with Jaisamand (Udaipur) and Kadana Backwater (Dungarpur).
Key facts
- The Banswara District Gazetteer records work on the Mahi multipurpose project starting in 1959-60, with a masonry dam across the Mahi.
- Per the Banswara Gazetteer, 1.28 of 1.71 thousand million cubic metres of the reservoir's water was to be provided to Gujarat.
- Rajasthan's Economic Review 2022-23 names Mahi Bajaj Sagar (Banswara) among three reservoirs of a 'livelihood model' for tribal fishermen.
- The Mahi rises in western Madhya Pradesh, enters Rajasthan near Chandangarh (Banswara) and leaves the state at Salakari village (2013 Hydrogeological Atlas).
- Per the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas, the Mahi's main tributaries in Banswara are the Anas, Hiran, Eru and Chap; only the Anas is perennial.
The project's sharing states are the two highlighted: Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Study next
Common traps
- The Mahi rises in Madhya Pradesh, which makes options (3) and (4) look plausible. The state that shares the project's water is Gujarat.
- Options (1) and (3) each contain the correct pair plus one extra state. A single extra state makes an option wrong.
- Gujarat's share in the Mahi project does not make it the partner in another project. Match each shared project to its own river and partner.
A question can ask which states share an irrigation or power project, as this one does.
A question can also ask for a project's river or district, the beneficiary districts of its canals, or which projects Rajasthan shares with neighbouring states.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Mahi Bajaj Sagar Project is located in which district of Rajasthan ?
- (a)Banswara
- (b)Dungarpur
- (c)Udaipur
- (d)Pratapgarh
Answer(1) — The project is in Banswara district, where the Mahi enters Rajasthan. Option (2), Dungarpur, is where the Som joins the Mahi at Baneshwar. Option (3), Udaipur, and option (4), Pratapgarh, hold parts of the Mahi basin but not the dam. - practice — not a real PYQ
According to the 2013 Hydrogeological Atlas of Rajasthan, which district holds the largest share of the Mahi basin within the state ?
- (a)Banswara
- (b)Udaipur
- (c)Pratapgarh
- (d)Dungarpur
Answer(2) — Udaipur held 32.9% of the basin area. Option (1), Banswara, held 27.0% despite having the dam; option (3), Pratapgarh, 20.0%; option (4), Dungarpur, 19.0%. The shares are for districts as they stood in 2013.