The Provincial Irrigation and Power Department has launched the 'Lower Bari Doab Canal Improvement Project' (LBDCIP) to cover the rehabilitation of Baloki Barrage Complex and rehabilitation and modernisation of Lower Bari Doab Canal and its distributories and minors to carry out the project.
The Senior Minister, Raja Riaz Ahmad informed this during a briefing on the Maps of the project area on Monday. High officials of irrigation and Punjab Irrigation Drainage Authority (PIDA) were also present on the occasion and explained different technical details of the projects This project is aimed at improving water supply situation, ensuring water at tail ends and modernisation of irrigation infrastructure, he maintained.
Raja Riaz said that the Irrigation Department has signed contracts with consultant firms for carrying out detailed design and construction supervision. Lining of canals is also being carried out under Public Sector Development Programme in the province, he added.
'The main purposes of reforms is to improve operation and maintenance (O&M) of irrigation system, to bring balance in expenditures and revenue, to improve crop production through efficient use of water, maintain affordable drainage system and develop and integrated water resource management approach,' he added.
Irrigation water is delivered to the field through a network of barrages, main canals, branch canals, distributoryies, minors, sub minors and outlets. Punjab irrigation system is comprised of about 23,184 miles length of canals, with cultural Commanded Area of about 21 million acres. Further, 24 canal systems that have a total capacity of 1.10 lac cusses, draw their allocated discharge form 14barrages of Punjab, he concluded.