Canal Road Lahore: An early morning travel from Thokar Niaz Baig to BRB Canal

I always relish traveling on the Canal Bank Road Lahore. It is a beautiful road with the canal flowing alongside and with a long queue of dense trees on both sides of the canal and the road itself. Lahore Canal is now an important part of Lahore’s culture. At national or religious festivals, it is decorated with electric lights, flags, and decorative ribbons. I decided to document my travel on Canal Bank Road from Thokar Niaz Baig Flyover to BRB Canal where this Lahore Canal emanates from.

I thought about it when one of my cousins who has been living abroad for more than 10 years now expressed his longing for sitting on the Canal Bank and shared his experience of traveling to the Jallo and Sozo Water Park when he was living in Lahore. When you are living abroad, you tend to miss, in addition to your loved ones the streets, bazaars, localities, and areas where most of your life was spent. If you have any memory from any reference related to the canal of Lahore, I hope you will enjoy this journey with me.

From Thokar Niaz Baig till BRB Canal there are 12 underpasses on the road to date which turn this road into a complete signal-free corridor. These underpasses are numbered and named as follows

1. Chaudhary Rehmat Ali Underpass 

2. Chakar-e-Azam Rind Underpass

3. Kashmir Underpass Waris Mir Underpass

4. Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Underpass

5. Liaquat Ali Khan Underpass

6.  Justice Cornelius Underpass

7. Waris Shah Underpass

8. Faiz Ahmed Faiz Underpass

9. Hussain Shaheed Soherwordi Underpass     

10. Beijing Underpass

11. Habba Khatoon Underpass

12. Joginder Lal Mandal Underpass 

 Dense trees on the sides of the Canal enhance its beauty further. Many of the overhead pedestrian bridges have stairs in the middle to reach the bank of the canal. You may sometimes find a few people from the Punjab University Rowing Club doing rowing in the canal. There are many spots on the canal where you can spend some time along the bank of the canal, read a book or simply enjoy watching the canal. Near Jallo Park, an area has been developed for picnics or for pedestrians. You can park your car, go walking or spend some time there. From there on, the road becomes narrower and has 2 lanes. The traffic volume is relatively low as well.

I love the sight of the BRB Canal from its bridge. I have always seen an ample flow of water in this canal. Last year when I visited this canal though, there was barely any water in there which was shocking for me. The canal was built by Pakistan in 1950. One of the purposes of this canal was to set up a defensive resistance for Lahore. This canal is 148 feet wide and 16 feet deep.
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