Muzaffargarh Canals
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Muzaffargarh Canals
An Imperial system of inundation canals in the Punjab, taking off from the left bank of the Indus and the right bank of the Chenab, and irrigating portions of Muzaffargarh District. They were for the most part constructed by the native rulers of the District, and improved by Sawan Mai, governor under RanjTt Singh. After annexation the canals remained for many years under the manage- ment of the Deputy-Commissioner, and were transferred to the Canal department as a 'minor ' work in 1880. The system of canal clearance by the labour of the cultivators was finally abolished in 1903, when occupiers' rates were introduced. The Indus series, which is by far the more important of the two, consists of eight canals with an aggregate length of 1,138 miles of main, branch, and distributary channels, and a total average discharge of 2,570 cubic feet per second. There are five canals in the Chenab series, with a total length of 232 miles, and a discharge of 740 cubic feet per second. The gross area commanded by the canals is 1,205 square miles, of which 1,055 ^^^ cultivable and 547 irrigable, the area irrigated during the five years ending 1903-4 averaging 457 square miles, of which 366 square miles were watered from the Indus. To protect the irrigated country, embankments have been constructed, stretching for 119 miles along the Indus and for 40 miles along the Chenab. No capital account is kept for the system. The gross revenue in 1903-4 was 6 lakhs and the net revenue 3-3 lakhs.
