LAHORE: To safeguard against flooding in the coming monsoon season, the pace of work on the construction of preliminary flood protection embankments along the 46km-long stretch of the River Ravi has been accelerated.

The completion of the initial embankments (river channelisation) having 20-feet height is likely to be completed by June 30 before the start of the monsoon, Dawn has learnt.

“We have started work on most of the 20 projects of river channelisation simultaneously by constructing the protection embankments on both sides of the 46km-long stretch starting from the Ravi Syphon to the Hudiara point near Maraka,” a spokesperson for the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) said. The construction of the embankments with Rs70 billion was a major and crucial part of the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project (RRUDP), he added.

Sharing details, the official said the construction of embankments measuring 3km on the first 9.6km-long stretch from Syphon to Lahore-Sialkot motorway had been completed under phase-1 of the project. Likewise, 50pc work on the remaining 6.6km area had been accomplished on both sides of the river to date. The work on the next 5km-long stretch, from Lahore-Sialkot motorway to Railway bridge, under phase-1 would be initiated within a week or so, as the contractor had mobilised machinery to the site, he added.

The spokesperson said in the second phase, 9km-long flood protection embankments from the Railway bridge to motorway M2 bridge would be constructed. “This stretch is full of encroachments including various illegally developed small residential areas. This is yet to be handed over to us by the district administration. As soon as we get possession of this area situated in the riverbed, we will start embankment construction work,” he explained.

He termed the phase-3 as the biggest in the project, as the length of this area was 22.5km starting from M2 to Hudiara point. The work on the 5km-long stretch out of the total 22.5km was currently underway, whereas the PC-1 for the remaining 17.5km had been finalised. “Hopefully, the work will begin soon,” he said.

To a question, he said the 20-feet-high embankments would have the capacity to handle a flood up to 250,000 cusecs and later the capacity would be increased to 586,000 cusecs by raising the height to 10-feet or more. This 10-feet raise would be concrete structures and it would cost around Rs113 billion, he added.

To another question, he revealed that the last year flash flood of 219,000 cusecs played havoc in Lahore. “So, the construction of 20-feet tall embankments would surely save Lahore from floods. However, raising the height another 10-feet would make Lahore completely safe from floods, he said.

Talking about other project activities, he said that Ruda was utilising the 46km-long stretch of the river to develop a sustainable, eco-friendly riverfront that would also rehabilitate the dying Ravi River and improve the surrounding environment for both humans and wildlife. He said that the work on wastewater treatment plants, solid waste management by closing down the existing dump site and development of new engineered landfill sites, and forestation and ecological restoration had been taken up by the authority. He claimed that the Mehmood Booti Dumpsite rehabilitation project — its closure and conversion to urban forest & solar park in 2025, was 83% completed. Similarly, the work on several other components of the RRUDP has also been launched, he added.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2026