canal in Punjab state, northwestern India. It opened in 1882 and consists of an extensive canal system that irrigates more than 2,000 square miles (5,200 square km) of farmland. The system's headworks, where it draws its water, are on the Sutlej River at Ropar, near the border of Himāchal Pradesh state. From there the canal runs west-southwest to Dorāha, where it splits into three branches. One flows west and then northwest to rejoin the Sutlej near the Pakistan border; one runs southwest past Bhatinda to the border of Rājasthān state; and the third flows southeast to Patiāla. There are many distributaries, in addition to the three principal branches.