IRRIGATION CANALS IN THE PUNJAB.

Otago Witness, Issue 2756, 9 January 1907, Page 71

IRRIGATION CANALS IN THE PUNJAB.

During the last 20 years the canal system of the Punjab has received an enormous impetus ; the Western Jumna, Sirhind, and Bari Doab canals — the latter especially — have been considerably extended, and numerous new inundation canals have been constructed, while the Chenab and Jehlam canals 'have been made, and colonisation operations on the former successfully carried out and those cm the latter placed in full swing. The next 20 years will show a similar, if not greater, advance. A few figures will show what a wonderful success the Chenab canal has proved financially. Before colonisation operations commenced the 1,800,000 acres of Crown waste only gave a revenue of a few hundred pounds on account of grazing rights, while now tbe same land pays a revenue of over £70,000, in addition to the water and other rates credited to tlie canal. This canal commands over 3,000,000 acres, and irrigates annually about 2,000,000 acres, while there is a net profit to the State of £450,600, which gives a return of 23 per cent, on the capital cost. The annual value of the crops on the land irrigated by this canal amounts to about £4,000,000 sterling, and the total value of goods carried in 1904 from the new railway — which passes through the tract commanded by the canal — and exported from the port of Karachi amounted to about £2,800,000. These goods consisted, among other things, of 357,000 tons of wheat, 100,000 tons of other food grains, oil seeds and cotton, and the total freight paid was over £450.000. The Jehlam canal is designed to command about 1,100,000 acres of culturable land, and will pay over 15 per cent, on a capital cost of £i,250,000, while the estimated expenditure an the Upper Jehlam, Upper Chenab, and Lower Bari Doab project, which will command over 4,500,000 acres of culturable land, and irrigate almost 2,000.000 acres, amounts to a little more than £5.000,000 and is expected to give a direct return of 10 per cent, on the rapital outlay. The length of the main lines of the existing Punjab canals exceeds 3000 miles, while that of tbe branches is over 2000 miU'S, and of the distributives about 12,000 miles. When it is considered that the main line of tbe Chenab canal has a bed 250 ft wide, carries a depth of almost lift of water, and discharges 10,800 cubic feet per stcond, or about 14 times the amount ordinarily discharged by the Thames at Richmond, some idea may be obtained of the magnitude of the whole system, and the wonderful achievement of the engineers who designed and constructed these canals.— Captain C. H. Buck, of the Punjab Commission, in the Geographical Journal.