Real-Time Water Governance for 21 Million Acres: Punjab’s RTFM Revolution
Empowering Punjab’s Irrigation System with Real-Time Flow Monitoring System
How CDigital Delivered a Province-Wide Telemetry System to Modernize Water Distribution & Improve Irrigation Governance Across Punjab
About The Client
The Punjab Irrigation Department (PID) operates the world’s largest contiguous irrigation network, supplying water to millions of acres of farmland across Punjab. For over a century, this network relied heavily on manual gauge readings and field observations — creating delays, inconsistencies, and operational blind spots. To modernize water distribution and strengthen governance, PID, in partnership with the PMO for Punjab Barrages, engaged CDigital to design and deploy a province-wide Real-Time Flow Monitoring (RTFM) system. This initiative marks Punjab’s first transition toward fully automated hydrological monitoring, integrated telemetry, and centralized water intelligence.
Challenge
Before CDigital’s intervention, PID lacked a unified digital view of its vast irrigation network. Manual gauge readings, subjective measurement practices, and delayed field reporting meant that canal operations were reactive rather than data-driven. Critical blind spots existed across barrages, canals, and distributaries, making it difficult to detect imbalances, flow theft, or operational inefficiencies. With no centralized monitoring platform, data remained fragmented in field registers instead of analytics dashboards. These limitations increased the risk of misallocation, water loss, and inconsistent water delivery — highlighting the urgent need for a modern, automated telemetry system.
Key Features:
- ~170M m³/day Water Flows Monitored
- 40+ Real-Time Flow Stations Installed
- 130+ Hydromet Sensors Deployed
- Real-Time Insights Across Punjab’s Canal Commands
Delivered Services:
- Deployment of Real Time Flow & Water-Level Monitoring Stations
- Province-Wide Telemetry & Communication Network Integration
- Solar-Based Autonomous Power Systems
- Centralized Command Center & Analytics Platform Setup
- Civil, Structural & Field Infrastructure Works
- Training & Capacity Building