Marala Headworks

History

The original headworks near Marala along with the Upper Chenab Canal were built as part of the Triple Canals Project of the British India during 1906–1912. The canal was meant to irrigate an area of 648,000 acres in the Gujranwala District as well as to transfer waters to the Ravi River near Balloki. It was opened in 1912 and fully completed by 1917 at a cost of 37 million PKR. It became profitable in 1938–39.

The waters transferred to the Ravi River were further fed to the Lower Bari Doab Canal via the Balloki Headworks, irrigating the Montgomery and the Multan districts. This canal became profitable at least a decade earlier than the Upper Chenab Canal. The waters of the Ravi River itself were left to irrigate the semi-arid states of Bikaner and Bahawalpur. The link canal concept initiated in the Triple Canals Project eventually became the basis for the Indus Waters Treaty after the independence of India and Pakistan.

The Marala–Ravi Link Canal was constructed between 1952–1956 in the wake of the Indo-Pakistani water dispute of 1948, when Pakistan became apprehensive of water security on the Ravi and the Sutlej rivers. This canal transfers 623 cusecs of water to the Ravi River in order to satisfy the requirements of Balloki and Sulemanki headworks.