PM Imran Khan will lay foundation of Jalalpur Irrigation Project today. The canal project is 121 years old. It was first planned in British era in 1898. The 115 km long canal will be built on the river Jhelum. This is the first of its kind project which is 12 decades old.
The project will be financed by the World Bank. The World Bank would also issue a loan worth 32.7 billion in this regard. The idea was first originated in British rule, which was later shelved because of non-availability of funds. Now, after 12 decades, the project is set to become the first mega project of post partition era.
The inauguration ceremony will be held in Jhelum, Punjab Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen will attend the event.
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Jalalpur Irrigation Canal project would uplift the areas near Jhelum and Pind Dadan Khan, also irrigate the barren land of the area. It is a non-perennial irrigation system. The previous PML-N government mulled the project to irrigate 170,000 acres of land.
The canal will run 115 kilometers with a discharge of 1,350 cusecs. It will also cross the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway M-2. Moreover, an underpass will be built for the purpose. The canal will originate from the left bank of Rasul Barrage.
Jalalpur canal will also have other features, which include a distribution system of 23 distributary channels, 10 minor canals and more than 780 hydraulic structures of various kinds.
The new irrigation system is the need of the hour, because water scarcity is hitting the Punjab hard. Punjab right now is the agricultural hub of Pakistan. The land near Jehlum is barren. Moreover, salt water desolated the whole area around Pind Dadan Khan.
