IRRIGATION IN INDIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21542, 14 January 1932, Page 7

IRRIGATION IN INDIA

WORLD’S LARGEST SYSTEM OPENING OF LLOYD BARRAGE. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, January 12. (Received Jan. 13, at 5.5 p.m.) A memorable event in Indian history will take place to-morrow, when the Viceroy will open the world’s largest irrigation system, the Lloyd barrage in Sukkur, with seven huge canals by which a sun-parched area as large as England will be turned into agricultural land. The whole province of Sind is practically rainless, so that a supply of water from the river which flows through its length is absolutely vital to most of its 3,500,000 inhabitants. One of the most notable achievements of the British in India and one which is most often overlooked is the conversion by irrigation of waste lands into fruitful lands. The present scheme took eight years to complete. The Lloyd barrage is several miles long, and has several arches, each 90 feet wide. The waters of . the river flowing from the Himalayas into the sea will be harnessed to supply the province by 7000 miles of canals, some of them wider than the Suez canal, with private channels serving 35,000 miles. The scheme makes possible the cultivation of 6,000,000 acres, and it is estimated that the value of the crops produced therefrom will approach £30,000,000. The cost of the scheme was approximately £15,000,000. THE BARRAGE OPENED. CALCUTTA, January 13. (Received Jan. 13, at 11.55 p.m.) The Sukkur barrage, one of the greatest feats of British engineering, was opened to-day by the Viceroy. The barrage is named after Lord Lloyd, a former Bombay Governor. The scheme was mooted nearly a century ago after the Sind district was conquered by British troops, but not till after the Great War was it sanctioned.