The Lower Bari Doab Canal is a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (, ) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the Demographics of Pakistan, most populous province in Pakistan and the List of first-level administrative divisions by popu ...

. Part of the second-largest irrigation system of the province, it serves approximately 275,000 farmsteads. It is located south-west of

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and runs alongside the

River Ravi The Ravi River is a transboundary river in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other ...

History

Lower Bari Doab Canal was commissioned in 1914, off-taking from Balloki Barrage, whereas the barrage itself was constructed in 1911–13. The canal was remodeled in 1985-88 and then again in 2014–18. The canal was formally inaugurated by Governor of the Punjab Sir

William Malcolm Hailey William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey, (15 February 1872 – 1 June 1969) known as Sir Malcolm Hailey between 1921 and 1936, was a British peer and administrator in British India. Education Hailey was educated at Merchant Taylors' School a ...

on 12 April 1912. Subsidiary canal off-taking from the main canal were designed by Sir Ganga Ram to irrigate his 50,000 acres of land in

Sahiwal District Sahiwal District (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ), formerly known as Montgomery District, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab Subdivisions of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. In 1998, it had a population of 1, ...

of the Punjab. Sir Ganga Ram incidentally also built a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

on the main canal near the town of

Renala Khurd Renala Khurd (Punjabi, ) is a city in the Okara District in the east Punjab (Pakistan). It serves as the administrative headquarters of Renala Khurd Tehsil and sits at an elevation of approximately above sea level. The city is located about ...

in 1925. The power station had five generators delivering a total of 1.1 mega watt electricity.

Current status

The canal has been rehabilitated as part of a mega project funded by the Asian Development Fund and implemented by the Lower Bari Doab Canal Improvement Project of the

Punjab Irrigation Department The Punjab Irrigation Department (Punjabi, Urdu: محکمہ آبپاشی پنجاب) is a provincial government department responsible for irrigation in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It irrigates of the agricultural land in the province. ...

in 2014–18. The 201 km-long canal along with 2,264 km of distribution channels irrigates 700,000 hectares of land of Okara,

Pakpattan Pakpattan (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is an ancient, historic city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, serving as the headquarters of the Pakpattan Distr ...

Sahiwal Sahiwal ( Punjabi / ; ; ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in central Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. It is the 19th largest city of Pakistan by population accordin ...

, and

Khanewal Khanewal is a city and the capital of Khanewal District in Punjab, Pakistan. Khanewal also contains Pakistan's third largest railway junction. It is the 36th largest city of Pakistan by population. Etymology According to one theory, Khanewal ...

districts. The remodeling project also enhanced the flood management of the Balloki Barrage from 2,25,000 cusecs to 2,60,000 cusecs.

References

{{improve categories, date=June 2024 Canals in Pakistan