Punjab

A look at the traditional harvesting techniques across the country.

Jhalar

Five large, snow-fed rivers have for centuries been the lifeline of Punjab. In the present-day state of Punjab three of them flow - Ravi, Sutlej and Beas. Hence, availability of water hasn't been a problem, per say.

Since the times of the Mughals, this region has had canals. Shahjahan had his engineer Ali Mardan Khan build the Badshahi Nahar and later the Hasli canal.

For irrigation purposes in the Beas-Sutlej doab, the use of wells and jhalars is very common. A jhalar is shallow well dug along the banks of a stream from which water is lifted with the help of a Persian wheel.

HT Image