Khanki Headworks

Khanki Headworks is located on the River Chenab, in Wazirabad tehsil, Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan. Roughly 52 km downstream of Marala Barrage and ~32 km upstream of Qadirabad Barrage.

Background

It is the oldest barrage in Pakistan. The old Khanki Headworks was built in 1892-1898 by the British to convert barren lands into farms for crops like cotton and wheat. Due to defects in 1920 and 1933, a New Khanki Barrage was built. About 900 feet downstream from the old structure under an ADB-assisted project, completed in 2017-2019. It replaced the old headworks to provide greater safety, flood capacity, more reliable irrigation, and modern operation. The upgrade project included fish ladders (to allow fish movement), new gates, more piers, abutments, etc.

Significance

Irrigation & Agriculture

Khanki diverts water into the Lower Chenab Canal (LCC) system. The command (irrigated) area covers about 3 million acres in eight districts of central Punjab: Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Faisalabad, Jhang, Chiniot, and Toba Tek Singh. It supports hundreds of thousands of farming households.

Flood & River Control

Old headworks had a safe flood capacity of about 800,000 cusecs; the new barrage improved that to about 1,100,000 cusecs (≈ 1.1 million cusecs) to better handle extreme flood events. This reduces risk to downstream communities.

Modernization & Community Benefits

With the upgrade came social/community benefits: improvements in water supply reliability, reduced losses, infrastructure (roads), and possibly facilities like parks, health units, and awareness/training programs.