Bambawali-Ravi-Bedian Canal

Bambanwala-Riya-Branch Canal or simply, BRB Canal begins at Wazir Abad Nandipur Canal and ends at Satluj River. It is a long canal on the east side of the city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is the source of the Lahore Canal which (from the BRB Canal) runs westwards to the city. The canal was built by the residents of Lahore on the insistence of the then Chief Minister of Punjab Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Khan of Mamdot to protect the city from Indian aggression. The fact that the Government of Punjab could not afford to pay them, and the honesty associated with Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Khan of Mamdot and his father Sir Nawab Shahnawaz Khan of Mamdot, not one person hesitated and the entire canal was built within a short span of a few days.

Bambanwala Riya Branch Link Canal (BRB Canal), better known as Ichhogil Canal, is synonymous with the 1965 Indo-Pak war and the Lahore sector of the war. This canal ran 8 km. inside Pakistan and proved to be a formidable defensive structure. The homebank of the canal (on the Lahore side) was lined with concrete pill-boxes with over-lapping arcs of fire. From an army’ stand-point, defensive structures like water canals offer two important advantages – (a) economy of forces (b) delaying the advance of the enemy and limiting his ability to maneuver. In case (a), home bank of the canal can be lined with fortified and concrete defensive positions in a mutually supporting manner. Given the protection offered by these structures, the manpower required is relatively less as compared to say, defending over an open ground. The manpower and other assets like tanks / mechanized infantry can be reserved for counter-attacks on the enemy using these canal based defenses as a firm base. The other benefit is that it forces the enemy into expending resources in first securing its home bank, creating a bridgehead and then securing the bridgehead. Creating and securing bridgeheads is never an easy task against an entrenched enemy and are prone to counter-attacks from the enemy reserves in the areas.

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