Re-modelled Bist Doab Canal to start irrigation from Jan

Tribune News Service

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Jalandhar, December 18

The Bist Doab Canal (BDC) is all set to facilitate the farming community of the Doaba region on a large scale as it will start providing water for irrigation to more than 2 lakh hectare area from January 15, 2017.

Stating this here today, Secretary of Irrigation Department, Kahan Singh Pannu, who reviewed the ongoing work on this project stated that the rehabilitation of the canal was being completed in a record time of 10 months and water shall be released in the canal by January 15, 2017.

He said after the rehabilitation of the canal, it would be the first canal in Punjab which is being re-modelled by way of concrete lining. The total cost of the project is Rs 320 crore.

Bist Doab Canal was constructed in the year 1954 with a water carrying capacity of 1450 cusecs, but due to continuous silting and erosion, its capacity was reduced to 950 cusecs only and as a result, it was irrigating only about 35000 acres as against its command area of 2 lakh acres.

Pannu, while undertaking his weekly inspection of the work on the canal, said the total length of the canal was 801 km with its two branches, 14 distributaries and 39 minors falling in district of Nawanshahr, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur.

He also said that the BDC was a water carrying and recharging canal and, therefore, during the course of lining its base had been kept unlined to facilitate the subsurface water recharging.

It may be mentioned here that the foundation stone of the project was laid by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in February 2016 at Nawashahr and Nakodar.