The canal, aside from its importance for irrigation, forms the centre of a unique linear park that serves as one of the longest public green belts and popular recreational destination spots in the area.

[4] The idea to extend the canal may have possibly emerged because an irrigation system was felt necessary after the disastrous Agra famine hit the subcontinent in 1837-38.

Nearly ten million rupees was spent on relief works, resulting in considerable losses to the British East India Company.

The samples of the canal water were examined at the Environment Department’s specialized laboratory in Lahore and showed “excessive limits of sulfide, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, chlorine and sulphate; a disturbed pH balance and several other imbalances” because of the chemicals being thrown into the canal.

After the process had been completed and the canal bed looked uniform, the irrigation officials let the water flow again on February 10, 2008.

Mustansar Hussain Tarar and others have criticized the road-widening project in Express News documentary film Bahao.

Under the proposed plan, the government would stop the flow of water for a few weeks to properly clean the basin of the Canal and design it to avoid any accidents.

The government would provide facilities at par with international standards, keeping in mind the domestic cultural norms at the same time.

“We will develop a state-of-the-art facility for the public with a lot of trees, which will not only beautify the spots but improve the environmental condition of the historic city,” PHA Director General Dr Raheel Ahmad Siddiqui said.