The aim of this research is to analyze the historical process of continuity and change that led to the socio-economic transformation associated with irrigation sector development in nineteenth-century Multan, thus supplying a missing piece in South Asian Regional economic history and it became unplanned revolution and modernization as happened with colonial Multan. The introduction of the perennial canal system and the commercialization of agricultural crops provided a real opportunity for the economic development of this region. What were the socio-cultural impacts of regional economic policies, and how it penetrates as processes of continuity and change? This research derives its frame of reference by mixing historical, qualitative and quantitative methods of research. The selected data is analyzed from a dialectical rationale approach to critical discourse. This research is based on original, unpublished official reports from British Indian Library London, Punjab Civil Secretariat Lahore.

The long-standing critical requirement of exploring alternate means to road and rail transport,for movement of essential commodities and commercial items, across Pakistan came to the forefront owing to various studies on the subject. This was reflected in the National Transport Policy, promulgated in 2018. Accordingly, the implementation of developing Inland Water Transportation Authority is in progress, as the government is expected to legislate on the matter. Inland waterways play a vital role in economic development,especially for remote rural areas. Focus on this sector would open new vistas of development along the banks of various waterways, and its extent can be enhanced in the regional context, up to the Kabul River in Afghanistan.This paper highlights the spadework done up till now and points at the impediments to making Pakistan’s in land water transport system workable while proving a cost-effective solution to ever-increasing cargo traffic. The paper analyses the potential of the Indus River, along with various tributaries and canals associated with irrigation of the vast plains of Pakistan. The projected insufficiency of water throughout the year in the system is discussed considering available data and records based on historical perspective. The establishment of Indus Water Transport Company by the Government of the Punjab, and achievements thus far have been underscored.