111-yr-old Ranbir Canal awaits new Master Plan

Tribune News Service

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Jammu, June 16

Considered as the dying lifeline of the winter capital, the historic Ranbir Canal may get a new lease of life as the Revised Master Plan (RMP)-2032 being formulated by the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) proposes a major conservation project for the 111-year-old canal dug up during the erstwhile Dogra rulers in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Master Plan, which is yet to be approved by the government, aims to save the historic water body, on the verge of destruction due to urbanisation and pollution. The 60-km-long canal starts from Akhnoor and ends at Dumi Malpur village in RS Pura tehsil. It was opened in 1905 during the reign of Maharaja Ranbir Singh.

Initially apart for irrigation purposes, it was used for navigation purpose to carry essential commodities from Akhnoor to Jammu and vice versa, but today it is slowly dying.

As per the proposal conceived by consultants, patches of open land along the water body from Akhnoor to Jammu will be developed into parks and picnic spots making them green zones. There is also proposal to use the canal water for drinking purpose to meet the demands of the core city areas.

Landscaping has been proposed from Purkhoo to the Satwari area with pedestrian walkways, bridge, musical fountain and refreshment areas for making it a picnic spot.

Vice-Chairman, JDA, Mubarak Singh said the Master Plan when approved by the government would totally transform the city. “It has been modified to meet the demands of the city for the next 15 years and formulated keeping in view the expected expansion in future. There is greater stress on creating green zones,” said Mubarak Singh.

However, many raise doubts over the plans to beautify the canal keeping in view the past experiences with other such projects like the Tawi beautification project. “Why the government needs to wait for the approval of the Master Plan to save the canal. Civic bodies should first start preventing the disposal of solid waste in the canal. By the time the plan is approved there would be no canal to save,” said Bushan Parimoo, an environmentalist.

The Ranbir Canal provides irrigation to an area of 29,700 hectares up to Nekowal village on the Sialkote border of Pakistan and covers 489 villages of Jammu district. However, people living around the canal are main culprits for the slow demise of the water body, as residents in many localities, particularly Talab Tillo, Shakti Nagar and Nai Basti, has turned it into a big drain carrying the filth dumped by them.