British Mirpuris early 1960s, the Government of Pakistan planned the Mangla Dam, which was to be built in the Mirpur area. Several thousand people had to move. The British then needed workers, mainly for textile factories. Up to 5,000 people from Mirpur (5% of the displaced) left for Britain, and the displaced Mirpuris were given legal and financial assistance by the British contractor that built the dam. Many started working in factories, mostly in the so-called "Black Country" and in Bradford. In some villages of Mirpur, more than half of the people moved to the United Kingdom to settle in the industrial
Mangla razed to the ground (with construction of Mangla Dam), is used for a wide area which includes Mangla Cantonment, Mangla Colony (Left bank WAPDA Colony) and Mangla Hamlet. The village Mangla itself was named after Mangla Devi, a goddess of Hindu worship. It has been narrated to be the site of the crossing of the Jhelum river by the forces of Alexander the great facing King Porus. At the time of construction of the Mangla Dam, the villages of Thill, Baral and Baruti across the river in Jhelum District were developed as residential colonies and offices for foreign workers and