The Nara Canal is a deepened delta channel of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

province,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It was built as an excavated channel stemming off the left bank of the Indus River to join the course of the old Nara River, a tributary c.q. paleochannel of the Indus which received water from the

Ghaggar-Hakra The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar in India, before the Ottu barrage, and as the Hakra in Pakistan, downstream of the barrage, ending i ...

until the Hakra dried-up, early 2nd millennium BCE.

Geography

The canal runs from above the

Sukkur Barrage Sukkur Barrage ( sd, سکر بئراج, ur, ) is a barrage on the River Indus near the city of Sukkur in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The barrage was built during the British Raj from 1923 to 1932 and was named Lloyd Barrage. The Sukkur Ba ...

through the districts of

Khairpur Khairpur( Sindhi and ur, ) is a city and the capital of the Khairpur District, in Pakistan's Sindh province. History The Talpur dynasty was established in 1783 by Mir Fateh Ali Khan, who declared himself the first ''Rais'', or ruler of Sindh, ...

Sanghar Sanghar ( sd, سانگھڙ; ur, سانگھڑ English: Sānghar) is a city in Sanghar District, Sindh, Pakistan. Sanghar is the headquarters of Sanghar District and Sanghar Taluka (a subdivision of the district). The driving distance of Sangher ...

Mirpurkhas Mirpur Khas (Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high Mirs"'') is the capital city of the Mirpur Khas District and Mirpur Khas Division in the Sindh province, Pakistan. Mirpur Khas is the 16th largest city in Sindh province and the 80th ...

and

Tharparkar Tharparkar (Dhatki language, Dhatki/ sd, ٿرپارڪر, ur, ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar district. The district is t ...

to the Jamrao Canal. The Nara is the longest canal in Pakistan, running for about . It has a designed capacity of , but actually discharges . About of land are irrigated by this canal. Within the Khairpur District, the canal and its associated wetlands were made into the Nara Game Reserve in 1972.

Construction of the canal

Before the construction of the Nara canal, the Indus River used to overflow in Bahawalpur and Sind Province above

Rohri Rohri (Sindhi: روهڙي; ur, ) is a city of Sukkur District, Sindh province, Pakistan. It is located on the east bank of the Indus River, located directly across from Sukkur, the third largest city in Sindh. Rohri town is the administrative ...

and the spillovers used to enter the Nara River. Bunds were constructed by the Bahawalpur state authorities to protect their lands against floods and spillovers, which reduced the flood intensities into the Nara River. Similarly, due to low flows in the Indus River in certain years, the Nara River did not get much water. Therefore, the Nara supply channel was excavated in 1858–59 to directly supply water from the Indus river. The supply channel was excavated by 2.5 feet in 1884-85 and by a further 3.5 feet in 1893.

Chotiari Dam Chotiari Dam ( ur, ) is an artificial water reservoir situated 35 km away from the Sanghar town in Sanghar District, Sindh, Pakistan. Its construction was completed in December 2002, at the total cost of Rs 6 billion. The main purpose of cons ...

is located in the catchment area of the Nara Canal. The Nara Canal drains in to Shakoor Lake before overflowing into

Kori Creek The Kori Creek is a tidal creek in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat. It lies just to the west of the Great Rann of Kutch area of India. This region belonging to India is a part of the Indus River Delta, which lies across Gujar ...

of the

Great Rann of Kutch The Great Rann of Kutch (or Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh) is a salt marsh in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India. It is about 7500 km2 (2900 sq miles) in area and is reputed to be one of the largest salt de ...

. This delta channel or river is known as the Puran River or the Koree River in its lower reaches.

Nara river

The Nara was a tributary, c.q. paleochannel, of the Indus, and a paleochannel of

river system. After traversing Bahawalpur, the Hakra used to enter into the present Nara Canal a few miles downstream of its present head. The Ghaggar-Hakra is identified with the Vedic

Sarasvati river The Sarasvati River () is a deified river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, i ...

, although the Hakra had already dried-up by Vedic times.

Notes

References

Sources

;Printed sources * * * * * * ;Web-sources

External links

Nara Canal marked on OpenStreetMap
retrieved 19 March 2021.
Eatern Nara
Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908) Canals in Pakistan Sarasvati River {{Pakistan-geo-stub