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BARI DOAB CANAL.

154

The channel

times admitted into the canal during the hot weather.

and runs almost due south till it reaches a point parallel with Di'nanagar, where it becomes available for purposes of irrigation. The Bari Doab is marked off into several minor divisions by natural lines of drainage, and great branches of the canal, 4 in number, run along the crest of each principal dividing ridge between their basins. The Kasur branch diverges from the main line in the thirty-first mile of its course, and flows on nearly due south while the main line turns south-westward, and follows the watershed of the Kasur ndld. Seven miles farther, the Kasiir branch sub-divides one of its channels, still retaining the same name, following the line of upland between the Patti and Kasur ndlds, while the other, known as the Sobraon branch, continues southwards between the Patti ndld and the Beas (Bias). Both these distributaries eventually end in the old bed strikes off across the plain at once,





of the last-named

The main mile;

a

but,

branch.

river.

line little

runs on undivided north-west

till

it

of Maji'tha,

it

reaches gives

its

off

fifty-fourth

the Lahore

This channel crosses the head of the Udiara ndld, follows

the line of highest ground between the Udiara

and the Ravi, passing

between Lahore and Mian Mfr (Meean Meer), and ends in the Ravi a few miles below Lahore. The main branch runs on, still southwestward, down the very centre of the Doab uplands, which narrow just below Lahore into a mere strip of country between the Ravi and the ancient bed of the Beas. At last, near Changa Manga, at the southern e.xtremity of Lahore District, the main stream debouches into the Ravi. The Bari Doab Canal was commenced in 1849-50, and completed and ready for work by the end of the year 1859-60, and irrigation operations

commenced

the

in

following

season.

The

head-works,

however, were then of a temporary nature, the permanent weir and other regulating machinery not being fully completed

till

1873.

The

aggregate length of the main and branch canals amounted in 1882 to

388 miles, with 862 miles of minor

total

capital

expenditure

(exclusive

distributaries irdjbahds).

of interest)

up

to

The

end of

the

1880-81 reached the sum of The gross income in that 1,496,746. year was returned at ^,^107, 492, or, including increase of land revenue due to irrigation, the working expenses of the year were ^^42,272. The net profit in 1880-81 amounted to ^65,220, or 4'3 per cent, on the capital outlay; while the gross profit, inclusive of increased land revenue, was ^^92,863, or 6'2 per cent, on the capital outlay. The regular income is derived from water rates, which rule as follows per acre;

— For

overflow,

sundry crops, from

sugar-cane,

3s. to 5s.

one-half the above rates.



and gardens, 9s. 6d. on fallow, is. 6d. for lift area irrigated by the canal has

12s.;

rice

single watering

The

total



risen from 89,756 acres in 1860-61, to 433,080 acres in 1880-81.

The