Mangla Dam

The Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River was completed in 1967 and remains one of the largest earth-filled dams in the world. The reservoir it created — Mangla Lake — stretches for roughly 100 kilometres and provides irrigation water to Punjab's agricultural heartland as well as generating around 1,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power.

The dam itself is viewable from designated public overlooks. The Army Water Sports Club at Sukhian, the main point of access for Ramkot Fort boat trips, is also the place to arrange motorboat and jet-ski hire on the lake. The reservoir is a popular picnic destination for families from Mirpur and from Islamabad (about 2 hours away), particularly in spring and autumn when temperatures are mild.

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The construction of Mangla Dam in the 1960s displaced roughly 100,000 people — mostly from the Mirpur district — and sent waves of emigration to the British Midlands that reshaped both communities permanently. The compensation money paid by the Pakistani government allowed many families to buy passage to Britain, where they found work in the mills and foundries. The dam created a reservoir; the diaspora created the British Pakistani community. Both still exist.

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