# List of canals in Pakistan

Pakistan has one of the largest man-made canal systems in the world, providing irrigation facilities to 48 million acres. The canal network of Pakistan consists of main canals, branch canals, link canals, major distributaries, minor distributaries, and watercourses or field channels.
Main canal: A principal channel off-taking directly from a river or reservoir which has discharge capacity of above 25 cubic meter/sec (cumecs) is called a main canal or main line. These canals are not used for direct irrigation. They drive water from the river/reservoir through a head regulator, and feed it to branch canals and major distributaries.
Branch canal: They take off water from the main canal and feed the major and minor distributaries. They are also not used for direct irrigation. Their discharge capacity usually ranges from 5-25 cubic meter/second.
Link canal: These canals are meant to transfer water of the three Western Rivers, namely Chenab, Jhelum and Indus, to the canals dependent on the three Eastern Rivers, namely Sutlej, Beas and Ravi.
Some of the notable canals of Pakistan are listed here.

## Canals in Punjab

| Name | Off-take point | River | Length (km) | Designed head discharge (cusecs) | Cultivable command area (acres) | Objectives | Completion year |
| Greater Thal Canal | Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal | Indus | 35 | 8,500 | 355,000 | Irrigation of land in Khushab Bhakkar and Layyah districts of Punjab. | 2009 (Phase I) |
| Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal | Chashma Barrage | Indus | | 21,700 | n/a | Diverts water from River Indus to River Jehlum to meet the requirement of the canals off-taking at Trimmu Barrage on river Jehlum. | 1971 |
| Chashma Right Bank Canal | Chashma Barrage | Indus | 272 | 1,800 | 267,666 | Irrigation of lands in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. | 2003 |
| Thal Canal Upper | Jinnah Barrage | Indus | 50 | 9,000 | 2,115,931 | Irrigation of Land in Khushab, Bhakkar and Mianwali districts of Punjab. | 1949 |
| Lower Bari Doab Canal | Balloki Headworks | Ravi | 212 | 9,292 | 1,845,974 | Irrigates land of Okara, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, and Khanewal districts. | 1914 |
| Balloki Sulemanki Link Canal | Balloki Barrage | Ravi | 85 | 24,500 | n/a | It originates from Balloki Barrage on River Ravi and connects with the River Sutlej at Sulemanki Barrage. | |
| Sidhnai Canal | Sidhnai Headworks | Ravi | 50 | 4,005 | 831,369 | | |
| Sidhnai Mailsi Bahawal Link Canal | Sidhnai Headworks | Ravi | 119 | 11,300 | n/a | Feeds water of River Ravi to River Sutlej. | |
| Lower Bahawal Canal | Sidhnai Mailsi Bahawal Link Canal | Ravi | 76 | 6,730 | 771,000 | | |
| Upper Depalpur Canal | BRBD Link Canal | Ravi | 66 | 2,380 | 345,000 | | |
| Lower Depalpur Canal | Balloki Sulemanki Link Canal | Ravi | 8 | 2,360 | 450,500 | | |
| Marala Ravi Link Canal | Marala Barrage | Chenab | 101 | 22,000 | 154,987 | Originates from Marala Barrage and transfers the water of Chenab to Ravi. | 1956 |
| Upper Chenab Canal | Marala Barrage | Chenab | 42 | 16,850 | 1,210,700 | Irrigates the lands of Gujranwala, Kamoke, Muridke and Sheikhupura. | 1912 |
| Lower Chenab Canal | Khanki Barrage | Chenab | 64 | 8,143 | 3,400,000 | Irrigation of land in Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Sheikhupura, Nanakana Sahib, Faisalabad, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh. | 1898 |
| Haveli Main Line | Trimmu Barrage | Chenab | 69 | 7,375 | 1,024,000 | Irrigates the lands of Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Muzaffargarh, Khanewal, Multan. | |
| Rangpur Canal | Trimmu Barrage | Chenab | 103 | 2,710 | 230,000 | Irrigates the lands of Jhang, Muzaffargarh | |
| Trimmu Sidhnai Link Canal | Trimmu Barrage | Chenab | 69 | 12,500 | n/a | Transfers water from Trimmu Barage into the Ravi River. | |
| Qadirabad Balloki Link Canal | Qadirabad Barrage | Chenab | 127 | 25,000 | n/a | It is an extension of Rasul-Qadirabad Link Canal by which the water is transferred to the Ravi River. | |
| Punjnad Canal | Punjnad Barrage | Chenab | 92 | 10,484 | 1,421,000 | | |
| Abbasia Link Canal | Punjnad Barrage | Chenab | 76 | 5,600 | n/a | | |
| Abbasia Canal | Punjnad Barrage | Chenab | 71 | 1,394 | 251,000 | | |
| Upper Jhelum Canal | Mangla Reservoir | Jehlum | 142 | 8,975 | 535,000 | Irrigates the plains of Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin. It provides surplus water to the lower Chenab Canal. | 1916 |
| Lower Jhelum Canal | Rasul Barrage | Jehlum | 63 | 5,280 | 1,453,000 | Its command area includes the greater part of Chaj Doab – Sargodha, Mandi Bahauddin and Jhang districts in Punjab. | 1904 |
| Jalalpur Canal | Rasul Barrage | Jehlum | 117 | | 175,000 | Irrigate the lands in Jhelum and Khushab districts. | 2023 |
| Rasul-Qadirabad Link Canal | Rasul Barrage | Jehlum | 47 | 19,000 | n/a | It carries water from Rasul Barrage on River Jhelum to the River Chenab. | |
| Bahawal Canal | Islam Barrage | Sutlej | 16 | 2,740 | 52,023 | | |
| Fordwah Canal | Sulemanki Barrage | Sutlej | 13 | 3,447 | 430,112 | | |
| Eastern Sadiqia Canal | Sulemanki Barrage | Sutlej | 79 | 6,820 | 1,075,000 | Irrigates the lands of Nili bar. | |
| Upper Pakpattan Canal | Sulemanki Barrage | Sutlej | 182 | 5,508 | 961,158 | Irrigates the lands of Okara, Pakpattan, Vehari, Lodhran. | |
| Lower Pakpattan Canal | Sidhnai Mailsi Bahawal Link Canal | Sutlej | 214 | 1,160 | 308,568 | Irrigates the lands of Vehari, Lodhran, Multan. | |
| Qaim Canal | Islam Headworks | Sutlej | 11 | 483 | 52,797 | | |
| Kachhi Canal | Taunsa Barrage | Indus | 399 | 6,000 | 72,000 | Irrigation of lands in District Dera Bugti, Balochistan. | 2017 |
| DG Khan Canal | Taunsa Barrage | Indus | 111 | 8,900 | 901,981 | | |
| Taunsa Punjnad Link Canal | Taunsa Barrage | Indus | 61 | 1,200 | 2,000,000 | Carries water from Taunsa on the Indus River to Chenab River to feed the Punjab canals. | |
| Muzaffargarh Canal | Taunsa Barrage | Indus | 119 | 8,901 | 838,380 | | |

## Canals in Sindh

| Name | Off-take point | River | Designed head discharge (cusecs) | Cultivable command area (acres) | Objectives | Completion year |
| Rainee Canal | Guddu Barrage | Indus | 5,155 | 113,690 | Irrigation of land in District Ghotki of Sindh. | 2014 |
| Ghotki Canal | Guddu Barrage | Indus | 8,490 | | | |
| Pat Feeder Canal | Guddu Barrage | Indus | | | Irrigate areas in the Nasirabad and Jafarabad districts of Balochistan. | 1963 |
| Desert Pat Feeder | Guddu Barrage | Indus | 13,275 | | Irrigation of land in Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Sohbatpur and Jhal Magsi. | |
| Begari Sindh Feeder | Guddu Barrage | Indus | 14,764 | | | |
| Nara Canal | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | 13,649 | 2,300,000 | It is the longest canal of Pakistan. This canal caters for an area of 2.3 million acres which is nearly equivalent to the entire Sindh area settled on Guddu Barrage alone. | 1858 |
| Rohri Canal | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | 10,887 | 2,600,000 | Cotton, wheat and sugar-cane are the main crops grown on this canal system. | |
| Nasrat Canal (Sada Wah) | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | | | | |
| Khairpur East Canal | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | 2,094 | | | |
| Khairpur West Canal | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | 1,940 | | | |
| North Western Canal | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | 5,152 | 965,000 | | |
| Rice Canal | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | 10,658 | | It is a seasonal canal which flows only in kharif season and is designed for rice cultivation in Larkana and surrounding districts. | |
| Dadu Canal | Sukkur Barrage | Indus | 3,150 | 1,300,000 | It cultivates the fields of paddy, vegetable and cotton crops in Sindh. | |
| Fuleli Canal | Kotri Barrage | Indus | 14,859 | | | |
| Kalri Canal | Kotri Barrage | Indus | 9,000 | | | |
| Pinyari Canal | Kotri Barrage | Indus | 13,636 | | | |
| Akram Wah Canal | Kotri Barrage | Indus | 4,100 | | | |
| Karachi Canal | Sindh Barrage | Indus | | | | |
| Thar Canal | Sindh Barrage | Indus | | | | |

## Canals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

| Name | Off-take point | River | Designed head discharge (cusecs) | Cultivable command area (acres) |
| Upper Swat Canal | Amandara Headworks | Swat | 3,600 | 281,000 |
| Lower Swat Canal | Munda Headworks | Swat | 1,940 | 134,500 |
| Pehur Main Canal | Tarbela Reservoir | Indus | 250 | 44,888 |
| Pehur High Level Canal | Tarbela Reservoir | Indus | 1000 | 10,531 |
| Warsak Canal | Warsak Dam | Kabul | 595 | 107,414 |
| Kabul River Canal | Warsak Dam | Kabul | 800 | 72,000 |