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 flow un ...

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

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

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

and runs alongside the

River Ravi The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...

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 and ...

on 12 April 1912. Subsidiary canal off-taking from the main canal were designed by Sir

Ganga Ram Rai Bahadur Sir Ganga Ram (born Ganga Ram Agarwal; 13 April 1851 – 10 July 1927) was an Indian civil engineer and architect. His extensive contributions to the urban fabric of Lahore, then in colonial India and now in modern Pakistan, cau ...

to irrigate his 50,000 acres of land in

Sahiwal District Sahiwal District (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ur, ), 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 ...

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 generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

on the main canal near the town of

Renala Khurd Renala Khurd ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a growing city in the Okara District in the northeast Punjab province of Pakistan. Khurd is a Persian word meaning small. The city is the headquarters of Renala Khurd Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of ...

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 Punjab Irrigation Department (), Pakistan, is a provincial irrigation department in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Punjab Irrigation Department irrigates of agricultural land in Punjab. Rai Manzoor Nasir, Secretary to the government of the Pu ...

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 and ), often referred to as Pākpattan Sharīf (; ''"Noble Pakpattan"''), is the capital city of the Pakpattan District, located in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 48th largest city of Pakistan by population according ...

Sahiwal Sahiwal (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ur, ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 21st largest city of Pakistan by population and the administrative capital of both ...

, and

Khanewal Khanewal () is a city and the capital of Khanewal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 36th largest city of Pakistan by population. Khanewal is named after the earliest settlers here who belonged to the caste ‘Daha’ (A Sub ...

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

References

{{reflist Canals in Pakistan