| Duration | October, 2009 – September, 2017 |
| Client | Project Director, Project Management Unit (PMU), Irrigation Department of Punjab |
| Funding | Asian Development Bank |
| JV/Association | NESPAK (Lead), ACE-MMP-MML (JV) |
| Consultancy Fee | USD 19.6 Million (Rs 2062.58 Million) |
Project Components:
The Lower Bari Doab Canal Improvement Project (LBDCIP) is being jointly financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Punjab (GoP). The investment component of LBDCIP includes;
- Rehabilitation and Upgrading of the Balloki barrage including pertinent structures of Head regulators of LBDC and B-S Link Canal;
- Rehabilitation and Upgrading of LBDC canal system.
The executing agency for the Project is the Irrigation Department GoPb. The Project is being administered through a Project Management Unit (PMU) operating under the direction of a Project Director (PD), Lower Bari Doab Canal Improvement Project.
The LBDC was commissioned in 1914 to serve a cultivable command area (CCA) of 1,442,224 acres (583647.35 Ha) with a design capacity of 6,750 cusec (191.14 cumec). The canal was remodeled in 1966-72 for a revised discharge of 8,650 cusec (244.94 cumec) which was further enhanced to 9,841 cusec (278.66 cumec) in 1982 to transfer 1,000 cusec (28.32cumec) through Sahiwal-Pakpattan Link canal to Sutlej command areas. In spite of repeated revisions in the canal’s capacity it was not adequately remodeled with the result that it was unable to carry its revised discharge of 9,841 cusec (278.66 cumec). The maximum carrying capacity of the canal at present is 8,600 cusec (243.52 cumec). The total length of the main canal is 132.14 canal miles (201 km) while that of the branch canals and 57 No. of distributaries is 1406.16 canal miles (2,263 km). The present CCA of the system is 1.73 million acres (0.70 million Ha) irrigated through a network of distributaries, minors, sub-minors. The century old system required upgrading/rehabilitation of channel prisms, earthen banks, bridges, control structures and head regulators, etc. The Project seeks to rehabilitate and upgrade the LBDC and its distribution system to provide improved operation and regulation particularly during the time of water shortage.