Amazing Sukkur Barrage History

Sukkur Barrage is a barrage on the River Indus near the city of Sukkur in the Sindh province of Pakistan.

History

The Barrage was built during the British Raj from 1923 to 1932 and named Lloyd Barrage. Constructed under the overall direction of Sir Charlton Harrison, CIE, it was opened by the Viceroy of India, Lord Willingdon. The scheme had been launched by the Governor of Bombay, Sir George Ambrose Lloyd (later known as Lord Lloyd) for whom it was named.^[2]

  Functioning

Sukkur Barrage is used to control water flow in the River Indus for irrigation and flood control purposes.

The barrage enables water to flow through what was originally a network of canals 6,166 miles (9,923 km) long, feeding the largest irrigation system in the world, with more than 5 million acres (20,000 km²) of irrigated land.

The retaining wall has 66 spans each 60 feet (18 m) wide. Each span has a gate weighing 50 tons.

  Wildlife

Indus River dolphins are occasionally seen upstream of the barrage.

Guddu Barrage

Guddu Barrage is a barrage on the Indus River near Kashmore in the Sindh province of Pakistan. President Iskander Mirza laid the foundation-stone of Guddu Barrage on 2 February 1957. The barrage was completed in 1962 at a cost of 474.8 million rupees and inaugurated by Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

Guddu Barrage is used to control water flow in the River Indus for irrigation and flood control purposes.

It has a discharge capacity of 1.2 million cubic feet per second (34,000 m³/s). It is a gate-controlled weir type barrage with a navigation lock. The barrage has 64 bays, each 60 feet (18 m) wide. The maximum flood level height of Guddu Barrage is 26 feet (8 m). It controls irrigation supplies to 2.9 million acres (12,000 km²) of agricultural land in the Jacobabad, Larkana and Sukkur districts of Sindh province and the Naseerabad district ofBalochistan province. It feeds Ghotki Feeder, Begari Feeder, Desert and Pat Feeder canals.

Taunsa Barrage

Taunsa Barrage is a barrage on the River Indus in the Muzaffargarh District of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is situated 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Taunsa Sharif and 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Kot Addu. This barrage controls water flow in the River Indus for irrigation and flood control purposes. Taunsa Barrage was designated a Ramsar site on 22 March 1996.

This barrage serves 2.351 million acres (951,400 hectares) besides diverting flows from Indus River to the Chenab River through Taunsa Panjnad (TP) Link Canal. The barrage also serves as an arterial road bridge, a railway bridge, and crossing for gas and oil pipelines, telephone line and extra high voltage (EHV) transmission lines.^[1]

[edit]Background

Taunsa Barrage was completed in 1958. The canal system fed by the Barrage initially consisted of Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi (DG) Khan canals. The former was completed in 1960 and is in operation since then, while the latter although opened in 1958 continued to remain under construction in some later years. TP Link canal was added in 1970, as a component work of the Indus Basin Project^[1]

Taunsa Barrage has been identified as the barrage with the highest priority for rehabilitation. It requires urgent measures to avoid severe economic and social impacts on the lives of millions of poor farmers through interruption of irrigation on two million acres (8,000 km²) and drinking water in the rural areas of southern Punjab, benefiting several million farmers.

In 2003, the World Bank approved a $123 million loan to Pakistan to rehabilitate the Taunsa Barrage on the River Indus whose structure had been damaged owing to soil erosions and old-age. The project was designed to ensure irrigation of the cultivated lands in the area of the Muzaffargarh^[2] and Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil^[3] canals, and through the Taunsa-Panjnad Link Canal that supplements the water supply to Panjnad headworks canals.

In 2011, the rehabilitation of the Taunsa Barrage was blamed for devastation of the Muzaffargarh district during the 2010 Pakistan floods.^[4] Critics blamed the rehabilitation of the barrage, alleging that it failed to raise its height and strengthen protective embankments, used dysfunctional computer control system of the hoist gates and ignored hill-torrent management.^[5]

Chashma Barrage

Chashma Barrage is a barrage on the River Indus in Mianwali District of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It was built in 1971.

Chashma Barrage is used for irrigation and flood control.

A Ramsar site is located nearby.