INDUS VALLEY, HISTORY OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATION:  

It is believed that the ancient people of the valley of Indus were outstanding in the field of agriculture and industry as compared to the civilization of contemporary period in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The textile crafts made from cotton are living examples of their expertise. Such was the glory of the ancient people of Indus valley; perhaps they were the first sedentary farmers of the world. The richness and wealth of the Indus valley was the greed of the foreigners. The valley of Indus has always been the cherished goal of the invaders and conquerors that followed one after another from the northwestern passes through the mountain ranges. The Aryans, the Iranians, the Graeco-Bactrians, the Parthenians, the Kushans, the white Huns, Muslims emperors, and Britishers plundered the rich valley of the Indus from time to time and ruled over the valley and northern India. Entire history of Indus valley reveals that one invader or another has treaded the present Pakistan. The Muslims of the sub-continent first tried to shake off a century old rule of British in 1857 and finally succeeded to drive them away in 1947, and the great valley Indus became part of Pakistan. Pakistan lies between latitudes 24 degree and 37 degree North and longitudes 61 degree to 76 degree East. Its surroundings include Iran on the west, Afghanistan on the northwest, Gilgit Agency, Azad Kashmir and disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir lie on the northeast, India on the east and the Arabian Sea exists on its south.

CATCHMENTS OF INDUS RIVER SYSTEM:  

The Indus basin is a part of the catchments of the Indus river system that includes the northwest mountains, the Katchi plain, desert areas of Sindh, Bahawalpur, and the Rann of Kachh. The Indus and its major tributaries flow in longitudinal valleys in structural troughs paralleled to the mountain and invariably take an acute bend descending to the alluvial plains by cutting through mountains. These plains are stretched over a distance of 1528 Kilometers (950 miles) to the tidal delta near the Arabian Sea. The total catchment area of Indus River system spreads over 944,573 square kilometers (364,700 square miles). Of which 553,416 square kilometers (213,674 square miles) exist in Pakistan with a varying width of over 320 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) in the Punjab to about 80 kilometers (50 miles) in the narrow neck between the Thar Desert and the Khirthar mountains. The flat plain of Indus basin is made up of highly fertile alluvium deposited by the river Indus and its tributaries. Agriculture is concentrated essentially to this plain, where it has been developed by harnessing principal surface water resources available. Since, evaporation is high with meager and unreliable rainfall over Indus plains, hence, agriculture is wholly dependent on irrigation supplies. The river Indus and its tributaries are like a funnel, they rise in the northern mountain areas, receive water from various resources (snow, glacier melt, and rainfall), converge into a single stream at Panjnad (Mithankot), cover about 1005 Kilometers (625 miles) through the Sindh province, and finally discharge into Arabian sea

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:  

The Almighty Allah has gifted Pakistan with abundant water resources with water flowing down the Himalayas and Karrakurram heights from the world's largest glaciers, a free and unique bounty of nature for this land of alluvial plains. As a result of this natural resource, today we have the world's marvelous and the largest contiguous irrigation system that currently irrigates

over 16 million hectares of land, out of 34 million hectares of cultivable lands available. This land lies within the plains formed by river Indus and its tributaries. Britishers started the barrage irrigation system during 1930s. However, before that the residents of Punjab, Sindh, and Frontier had constructed a number of inundation canals to irrigate their lands. In the Punjab, 38 such canals had been taken out of Sutlej, Indus, and Chenab rivers to irrigate areas around Bari Doab, Multan, Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghazi Khan. In Sindh, water level of the Indus during summer had always been higher than the surrounding lands, thus, 16 inundation canals in this area had conveniently carried out the irrigation water during past century. However, British Army Engineers undertook construction and improvement of several irrigation canals in the sub-continent. Subsequently, remodeling/construction works on Bari Doab Canal; Sidhnai Canal, Lower Sohag, Ramnagar Canal, Lower Jhelum Canal, Kabul Canal, and Lower Sawat were completed by the end of l9th century. However, at the time of independence country had 29 canals to provide regulated supply to an area of about 11 million hectares, beside an area of about 3.2 million hectares irrigated through inundation canals leading from Indus and its tributaries. These main inundation canals included Upper Sutlej, Lower Sutlej, Shahpur, and Chenab in Punjab; whereas, Rohri, Fuleli, Pinyari, and Kalri in Sindh. However, after the construction of barrages these canals are no more inundation canals but get regulated water supply and some of them have become perennial while few are nonperennial.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

We have entered into 21st century with world's largest and unified irrigation system that consists of three major reservoirs (Chashma, Mangla, and Tarbela); 18 barrages (Ferozepur, Sulemanki, Islam, Balloki, Marala, Trimmu, Panjnad, Kalabagh, Sukkur, Kotri, Taunsa, Guddu, Chashma, Mailsi, Sidhnai, Rasul, Qadirabad, and Marala); 12 link canals; 45 irrigation canals; and over 107,000 water courses and millions of farm channels & field ditches. The total length of main canal system is estimated about 585000 Kilometer (36932 miles) and that of watercourses & field channels exceeds 1.62 million Kilometers (over 1.02 million miles).

SURFACE WATER RESOURCES: 

Irrigated agriculture was, still is, and will remain in future the backbone of Pakistan's economy. Nature has blessed Pakistan with abundant surface and subsurface water resources. These resources had been exploited and utilized for agricultural, domestic, and industrial purposes in the past and will continue to be explored in future. The river Indus and its tributaries provide the surface water. At the time of independence, we had about 67 MAF water available for diversion, this amount increased to about 85 MAF by the year 1960. At this juncture, the right of three eastern rivers (Beas, Sutlej, and Ravi) was given to India under Irrigation Water Treaty 1960, during this period, Indus Basin Project (IBP) was implemented with international assistance of the Wold Bank. IBP enabled Pakistan to acquire significant capability of river flow regulation through integrated system. By the dint of river regulation-cum-storage facilities of IBP and other irrigation developments on the river Indus, canal diversions progressively increased and peaked to about 108 MAF. The recent statistical data shows that the River Indus and its tributaries provide about 147 MAF during flood season. Out of which nearly 106 MAF is diverted into canals and is available for agriculture, while, about 32 MAF outflows into sea, whereas, over 8.6 MAF is considered as evaporation and seepage losses in the river system. It is worth mention

here that during last 3-5 years hardly 2-5 MAF water has flown into sea, whereas, at least 12 MAF must be left to sea in order to control intrusion of brackish water.

GROUND WATER RESOURCES:  

The Indus plains constitute about 34 million hectares (over 85 million acres) of cultivable land, which is under-lain predominantly by sand alluvium to a considerable depth. Annual recharge to ground water system of this Indus plain is estimated around 55 MAF, out of which about 48 MAF is within the commands of Indus basin irrigation system (IBIS). Presently, 39 MAF is being extracted annually. Ground water is also found in some rain-fed (Barani) lands, and inter-mountain valleys at depths varying from 100 to 200 ft. During 1950s, large area in the Indus basin became waterlogged and soil salinity increased adversely affecting the agricultural productivity. It was the time when government got involved and took initiatives in the ground

water development. The efforts began to control the twin menaces of waterlogging and salinity by the way of providing drainage facilities. Government embarked on a series of SCARPs in the late 1950s aimed at lowering the ground water table by providing "vertical drainage" through large capacity deep tube wells. Because of better economic returns, priority was given to locating SCARPs in the areas with ground water quality suitable for supplemental irrigation, making the drainage a by product in effect. During past four decades, about 15000 SCARP tube wells have been installed by the Government in 57 projects covering a gross area of about 7.7 million hectares affected land for putting it back into production. Almost 75% of all SCARP tube wells were installed in the Punjab. About 81% of total tube wells installed in Punjab province are located in fresh ground water areas, whereas, remaining 19% tube wells have been installed in saline ground water areas. The tube wells installed in the fresh ground water areas have been pumping water directly into watercourses; thus, they are being used for irrigation in addition to canal water. However, the tube wells installed in the areas with saline ground water, discharge saline water directly into drains, from where it is being disposed of.

Table. Scenario of water resources of the country

Surface water resources Annual water flow

MAF

Water available at canal head (1947) 67

Water available at canal head (1960) 85

Rim station flow (1997) 147

Water diverted to canals (1997) 106

Water flow to the sea (1997) 32

Losses in the river system 8.6

Ground water resources MAF

Recharge to groundwater 55

Recharge to groundwater within canal command

48

Groundwater pumping 39

RIVER INDUS AND ITS TRIBUTARIES:

1. Indus — Tarbela dam, Warsak dam (on the Kabul river near the Indus), Kalabagh barrage (also named as Jinnah barrage) at Kalabagh, Chashma reservoir, Tausa barrage, Gudu barrage, Sukkur barrage, Kotri barrage.2. Jhelum — Mangla dam, Rasul barrage, Punjnad headworks.3. Chenab — Marala headworks, Khanki headworks, Qadirabad barrage.4. Ravi — Balloki barrage, Sidnai barrage.5. Sutlej — Sulemanki barrage, Islam barrage

INDUS RIVER:

The Indus provides the key water resources for the economy of Pakistan - especially the Breadbasket of Punjab province, which accounts for most of the nation's agricultural production, and Sindh. The river also supports many heavy industries and provides the main supply of potable water in Pakistan.

The ultimate source of the Indus is in Tibet; it begins at the confluence of the Sengge and Gar rivers that drain the Nganglong Kangri and Gangdise Shan mountain ranges. The Indus then flows northwest through Ladakh and Baltistan into Gilgit, just south of theKarakoram range. The Shyok River, Shigar and Gilgit streams carry glacial waters into the main river. It gradually bends to the south, coming out of the hills between Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The Indus passes gigantic gorges 4,500-5,200 metres (15,000-17,000 feet) high near the Nanga Parbat massif. It flows swiftly across Hazara, and is dammed at the Tarbela Reservoir. The Kabul River joins it near Attock. The remainder of its route to the sea is in plains of the Punjab and Sindh, and the river becomes slow-flowing and highly braided. It is joined by Panjnad River at Mithankot. Beyond this confluence, the river, at one time, was named Satnad River (Sat = seven, Nadi = river), as the river was now carrying the waters of the Kabul River, the Indus River and the five Punjab rivers. Passing byJamshoro, it ends in a large delta to the east of Thatta.

The Indus is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit a tidal bore. The Indus system is largely fed by the snows and glaciers of the Himalayas, Karakoram and the Hindu Kush ranges of Tibet, the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Northern Areas of Pakistanrespectively. The flow of the river is also determined by the seasons - it diminishes greatly in the winter, while flooding its banks in themonsoon months from July to September. There is also evidence of a steady shift in the course of the river since prehistoric times - it deviated westwards from flowing into the Rann of Kutch

Tarbela dam, Warsak dam (on the Kabul river near the Indus), Kalabagh barrage (also named as Jinnah barrage) at Kalabagh, Chashma reservoir, Tausa barrage, Gudu barrage, Sukkur barrage, Kotri barrage.

Tarbela dam:

1. KALABAGH BARRAGE:

The Kalabagh dam was a mega water reservoir that the Government of Pakistan was planning to develop across the Indus River, one of the world's largest rivers. The proposed site for the dam was situated at Kalabagh in Mianwali District of the north-west Punjab province, bordering the Province. The proposal is halted due to political reasons. However there is a barrage at the same location which is also known as Jinnah barrage. Details of which are mentioned here.

Thal canal:

The amount of water that it carries is 2.534 MAF. It is divided into 2 different divisions.

Thal canal main line lower:

It is a main canal located in bhakkar. Its reduced distance is 502500. And length in miles is 100.50.Its authorized head discharge is 4100.Its authorized tail discharge is 228.00.Its Gross command area is 3534.Its Culturable command area is 2966.

Thal canal main line upper:

It is a main canal located in kalabagh. It is categorized in the zone of sarghodha. It is a perennial canal.Its reduced distance is 157662.00. And length in miles is 31.532.Its authorized head discharge is 9000.00.Its authorized tail discharge is 9000.00Its Gross command area is 2460861.00.Its Culturable command area is 2115931.00.

CHASHMA BARRAGE:                 Chashma Barrage is located on the Indus River near the village Chashma in Mianwali district. The project was built between 1967 and 1971. It is one of the many major engineering works that form a part of Indus basin treaty of 1960 between India and Pakistan. According to the project reports, 34 villages were displaced with the population of 22,400 people during the mid 60’s. The installed capacity of power station is 184MW. Chashma Barrage is the 3rd largest water reservoir of Pakistan.

Chashma Jhelum link

Chashma reservoir bank canal

2. TAUNSA BARRAGE:

This barrage is situated on Indus River near Taunsa at a distance of 180 miles from the Jinnah barrage. It provided the much needed rail link between Kashmor and Kot Addu as a parallel route to the main railway lines from Karachi to the north.

The canals which originate from this barrage and their details is given here under;

Kachhi Canal

D.G. Khan Canal

It is a main canal located in D.G Khan . It is categorized in the zone of D.G KHAN. It is a non-perennial canal.

Its reduced distance is 345230.00. And length in miles is 69.046.

Its authorized head discharge is 8900.00.

Its authorized tail discharge is 5514.00

Its Gross command area is 947874.00.

Its Culturable command area is 901981.00.

Muzaffargarah Canal

It is a main canal located in D.G KHAN. It is categorized in the zone of D.G KHAN. It is a non-perennial canal.

Its reduced distance is 370700.00. And length in miles is 74.14.

Its authorized head discharge is 8901.00.

Its authorized tail discharge is 2776.00

Its Gross command area is 906490.00.

Its Culturable command area is 838380.00.

Its tail authorized tail gauge is 9.40.

Taunsa Panjnad Link Canal

It is a main canal located in D.G KHAN. It is categorized in the zone of D.G KHAN. It is a non-perennial canal.

Its reduced distance is 191000.00. And length in miles is 38.20.

Its authorized head discharge is 12000.00.

Its authorized tail discharge is 12000.00

Its Gross command area is 2150000.00.

Its Culturable command area is 20000000.00.

3. GUDDU BARRAGE

It has been constructed on Indus River at Guddu, 90 miles upstream from Sukkur and ten miles from Kashmor. The canals that branch out from here irrigate about 31 lakh acres of land in Sukkur, Jacobabad and Shikarpur areas. It is located near Sukkur in Pakistan. The project was completed in 1962. The maximum flood level height of this barrage is 26ft (8meters). Guddu

Barrage supplies water for irrigation to 2.9million acres of agricultural lands in the Districts of Jacobabad, Larkana and Sukkur of Sindh and the Nasirabad District of Balouchistan. The cost of the project was 474.8 million rupees.

Pat feeder

Desert Feeder

Begari Sindh Feeder

Ghotki canal

4. KOTRI (GHULAM MUHAMMAD BARRAGE):

Kotri Baghar feeder

Phuleli

Pinjari

Akram Wah

S.M.B.L (Sidhnai Mailsi Bahawal Link) Canal

Terbela

5. TARBELA DAM AND RESERVOIR:

                Tarbela Dam is a large dam on the Indus River in Pakistan, which is located about 50km North West of Islamabad. The dam was completed in 1976 and was designed to store water from the Indus River for the purpose of irrigation, flood control and for the generation of hydro-electric power. It is a part of Indus Basin project which resulted from a water treaty signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan. The reservoir capacity of the dam is 3.69 km. Its height is about 143meters and 2743meters wide. The useful efficiency of the dam and its reservoir is estimated to be around 50 years that the reservoir will be full of sediments within next 20 years. Tarbela Dam is a major source of Pakistan’s total hydro-electric capacity.

TARBELA DAM

A power station on the right bank near the toe of the main dam houses fourteen (14), power

units, 4 units, each with installed generating capacity of 175 MW are installed on tunnel 1, 6

units (NO.5 to 10), 175 MW each on tunnel NO.2 and 4 Units ( NO.11-14) of 432 MW each on

Tunnel 3, thus making total generating capacity of Tarbela Power Station as 3478 MW.

The reservoir is 50 miles (80.5 km) long 100 square, miles (260 square kilometers) in area and

has a gross storage capacity of 11.6 MAF (17.109 million cu. Meters) with a live storage

capacity of 9.7 MAF (14,307 million cu. Meters). The total catchment area above Tarbela is

spread over 65,000 sq. miles (168,000 sq. kilometers) which largely brings in snowmelt supplied

in addition to some monsoon rains. Two main upstream tributaries join the Indus river, Shyok

river at an elevation of 8,000 ft. (2438 meters) above seal level near skardu and Siran river just

north of Tarbela

6. WARSAK DAM:

Warsak Hydro Electric Power Project is located on River Kabul at about 30 km from Peshawar in North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. In general, the project consists of a mass concrete gravity dam with integral spillway, power tunnel, power station, a concrete lined 10 feet diameter irrigation tunnel on right bank and a 3 feet diameter steel pipe irrigation conduit on the left bank of the reservoir. The 250 ft. high and 460 ft. long dam with reservoir of 4 square miles had a live storage capacity of 25,300 acre-feet of water for irrigation of 119,000 acres of land

and meeting power generation requirement. A spillway with nine gates is capable to discharge 540,000 cusecs of flood water.

Type Mass Concrete Gravity Dam

Height 250 ft.

Length 460 ft.

Reservoir 

Max. Conservation Level 1270 ft. SPD

Design Live Storage 25300 AF

Existing Live Storage Nil

Surface Area 4.0 sq. miles

Main Spillway 

Type Overflow

Capacity Per Gate 60,000 cusecs

No. of Gates 9 (Nine)

Size of Gate 40 ft. wide40 ft. high 12.19x12.19 meters

7. KALABAGH DAM:

The Kalabagh dam was a mega water reservoir that the Government of Pakistan was planning to develop across the Indus River, one of the world's largest rivers.

The proposed site for the dam was situated at Kalabagh in Mianwali District of the north-

west Punjab province, bordering the North-West Frontier Province.

The dam project was highly controversial and had been since its inception. In December

2005, General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, announced that he would definitely build

the dam in the larger interest of Pakistan. In May 26, 2008, Federal Minister for Water and

Power of Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraf, said that the Kalabagh Dam would not be constructed.

Kalabagh Dam Key Facts

Name Kalabagh

Dam type Earthfill

Height (above riverbed) 79 m

Length 3,3352 m

Area at retention level 164 square miles (420 km2)

Catchment area 110,500 square miles (286,000 km2)

Gross storage capacity 7,900,000 acre foot (9.74 km3)

Live storage capacity 6,100,000 acre foot (7.52 km3)

Dead storage 1,800,000 acre foot (2.22 km3)

Retention level 915 feet (279 m) amsl

Main spillway capacity 1,070,000 cubic feet per second (30,000 m3/s)

Design flood discharge 1,920,000 cubic feet per second (54,000 m3/s)

Hydropower generation 3.6 GW

Maximum discharge 1,200,000 cubic feet per second (34,000 m3/s) (in 1929)

Total volume of dam 34,000,000 cubic yards (26,000,000 m3)

He said due to the opposition from NWFP, Sindh and other stakeholders, the project was no

longer feasible

8. CHASHMA RESERVOIR:

Chashma Barrage wetland site is located Indus Monsoon Forest, some 25 km southwest of Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan.

Thal and sehwan reservoirs are also located at this river.

RIVER JEHLUM:

The river Jhelum rises from a spring at Verinag situated at the foot of the Pir Panjal in the south-eastern part of the valley of Kashmir in India. It flows through Srinagar and the Wular lake before entering Pakistan through a deep narrow gorge. The Kishenganga (Neelum) River, the largest tributary of the Jhelum, joins it near Muzaffarabad, as does the next largest, the Kunhar River of the Kaghan valley. It also connects with Pakistan and Pakistan-held Kashmir on Kohala Bridge east of Circle Bakote. It is then joined by the Poonch river, and flows into the Mangla Dam reservoir in the district of Mirpur. The Jhelum enters the Punjab in the Jhelum District. From there, it flows through the plains of Pakistan's Punjab, forming the boundary between the Chaj and Sindh Sagar Doabs. It ends in a confluence with the Chenab at Trimmu in District Jhang. The Chenab merges with the Sutlejto form the Panjnad River which joins the Indus River at Mithankot. It is a tributary of the Indus River and has a total length of about 480 miles (774 kilometers). It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab

1. MANGLA DAM:

The Mangla Dam is the twelfth largest dam in the world. It was constructed in 1967 across the Jhelum River, about 67 miles (100 km) south-east of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad in [[dadyal Mirpur]] district of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The main structures of the dam include 4 embankment dams, 2 spillways, 5 power-cum-irrigation tunnels and a 1,000 MW power station.

REAR VIEW OF THE POWERHOUSE AT MANGLA DAM

The main dam is 10,300 feet (3140 m) long and 454 feet (138 m) high (above core trench) with a reservoir of 97.7 square miles (253 km²). Since its first impounding in 1967, sedimentation has occurred to the extent of 1.13 million acre feet (1.39 km³), and the present gross storage capacity has declined to 4.75 million acre feet (5.86 km³) from the actual design of 5.88 million acre feet (7.25 km³). The live capacity has declined to 4.58 million acre feet (5.65 km³) from 5.34 million acre feet (6.59 km³). This implies a reduction of 19.22% in the capacity of the dam.The power station of mangla dam consists of 10 units each having capacity of 100 MW.In order to remedy the storage capacity decreases, the Pakistani government has decided to raise the dam by 40 feet (12 m), to 494 feet (151 m) high. This will increase the reservoir capacity by 18% and provide an additional 644 MWh of power, but will displace 40,000 people currently living near the reservoir.The project was designed primarily to increase the amount of water that could be used for irrigation from the flow of the Jhelum and its tributaries. Its secondary function was to generate electrical power from the irrigation releases at the artificial head of the reservoir. The project was not designed as a flood control structure, although some benefit in this respect also arises from its use for irrigation and water supply. The Government of Pakistan had agreed to pay royalties to the Government of AJK(Azad Jamu and Kashmir) for the use of the water and electricity generated by the dam. Over 280 villages and the towns of Mirpur and Dadyal were submerged and over 110,000 people were displaced from the area as a result of the dam being built. Some of those affected by the dam were given work permits for Britain by the Government of Pakistan, and as a result, in many cities in the UK the majority of the 'Pakistani' community actually originated from the dadyal Mirpur area of Disputed region Jamuu Kashmir.Mangla Dam is approx 67 miles (100 km) south-east of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad while Tarbela Dam is 60 miles (100 km) northwest.

Upper Jehlum canal

It is a main canal located in D.G KHAN. It is categorized in the zone of D.G KHAN. It is a non-perennial canal.Its reduced distance is 191000.00. And length in miles is 38.20.Its authorized head discharge is 12000.00.Its authorized tail discharge is 12000.00.Its Gross command area is 2150000.00.Its Culturable command area is 20000000.00.

3. KHANKI HEADWORKS:

Head Khanki or the Khanki Headwork is the oldest head work of Pakistan. It is present at

river Chenab in Gujrat District. It is used to control water flow and flood flow in river Chenab. Another use is to provide water to tributaries Such as Lower Chenab. It was built in 1889 [1].Canal Lower Chenab originates from Head Khanki. It provides water to three million acres (12,000 km²) of agricultural lands by one main distributry Lower Chenab and 59 minor distrtributeries. Its bridge is in shambles now a days and is posing serious threat to adjoining population of 100,000. In last 118 years there were 11 occasions when water was 730 foot higher in it than sea level at times of high floods. There were 16 occasions in last century when flood flow was 400,000 and 600,000 m³/s in it

Mangla Dam Water Reservoir

Official name Mangla Dam

Impounds Jhelum River

Locale Mangla, Azad Kashmir,Pakistan

Length 3,140 metres (10,302 ft)

Height 138 metres (453 ft) from river level

Construction began 1961

Reservoir information

Creates Mangla reservoir

Capacity 7,250 million cubic metres

Power generation information

Turbines 10

Installed capacity 1000 MW

Rasul qadirabad link canal

It is a main canal located in Rasul Division. It is categorized in the zone of Sargodha. It is a perennial canal. Its reduced distance is 145256.00. And length in miles is 29.051.Its authorized head discharge is 19000.00.Its authorized tail discharge is 19000.00.

Lower jehlum canal

It is a main canal located in Rasul Division. It is categorized in the zone of Sargodha. It is a perennial canal. Its reduced distance is 196830.00. And length in miles is 39.366.Its authorized head discharge is 5500.00.Its authorized tail discharge is 3705.00.Its Gross command area is 1728349.00.Its Culturable command area is 1485776.00.

Rasul barrage is also located at this river.

OTHER RIVERS:

RIVER CHENAB

The Chenab River is formed by the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers at Tandi located in the upper Himalayas in the Lahul and Spiti District of Himachal Pradesh, India. It flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of the Punjab. It is joined by the Jhelum River at Trimmu and then by the Ravi River. It then merges with the Sutlej River near Uch Sharif, Pakistan to form the Panjnad or the 'Five Rivers', the fifth being the Beas River which joins the Sutlej near Ferozepur, India. The Chenab then joins the Indus at Mithankot, Pakistan. The total length of the Chenab is approximately 960 kilometers.

RIVER RAVI

The River Ravi originates from the Himalayas near Chamba in Himachal Pradesh State, Northern India. The Ravi River is a river in India and Pakistan. It is one of the five rivers which give Punjab its name. The total length of the river is about 720 km. Near Bahawalpur it joins the Chenab River. The river skirts the ancient and historic city of Lahore, Pakistan.

BEAS RIVER

The Beas River is the second easternmost of the rivers of the Punjab, a tributary of Indus River. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km (290 miles) to the Sutlej River in western Punjab state. The river begins at the Rohtang Pass in the state of Himachal Pradesh, merges with the Sutlej at Harike Pattan south of Amritsar in Punjab, India VIA Mandi. The Sutlej continues into Pakistani Punjab and joins the Chenab River at Uch to form the Panjnad River; the latter joins the Indus River at Mithankot.

SUTLEJ RIVER

The Sutlej River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroad region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. It is located north of the Vindhya Range, south of the

Hindu Kush segment of the Himalayas, and east of the Central Sulaiman Range in Pakistan.The Sutlej is sometimes known as the Red River. It is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The Sutlej joins with the Beas River in Hari-Ke-Patan, Amritsar, Punjāb, India, and continues southwest into Pakistan to unite with the Chenab River, forming the Panjnad River south of ancient Multan. The Panjnad joins the Indus River at Mithankot. Indus then flows through a gorge near Sukkur, flows through the fertile plains region of Sindh, and terminates in the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi in Pakistan. The total length of the river is about 1550 km of which 529 km is in Pakistan.

MARALA HEADWORKS:

The Marala headworks is situated at the Chenab River near the city of Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan.

It is a massive hydro engineering project and is used to control water flow and flood control in

river Chenab. Chenab is a 1,086 km (675 mi) long river which originates in

the Kulu andKangra Districts of Himachal Pradesh in India and is fed by the tributaries Chandra

and Bagha as it enters Jammu & Kashmir near Kishtwar. After cutting across the Pir

Panjal range, it enters the Sialkot District in Pakistan where the Marala Barrage was built across

the river in 1968 with a maximum discharge of 1.1 million ft³/s (31,000 m³/s). Two major water

channels originate at the Marala headworks—the Marala-Ravi Link Canal and the Upper Chenab

Canal. Proposals are under consideration to build Mangla Marala Link Canal to overcome any

shortage of water in future.

Head Marala is also a picnic spot, wildlife sanctuary and unprotected wetland. Many people

come here and enjoy the landscape and natural beauty.

LINK CANALS IN PAKSITAN:

i. Chashma-Jhelum Link - Indus-Jhelum

ii. Taunsa-Punjnad Link - Indus-Chenab

iii. Rasul-Qadirabad Link - Jhelum-Chenab

iv. Marala-Ravi Link - Chenab-Ravi

v. Bambanwala-Ravi-Bedian Link - Chenab-Ravi-Sutlej

vi. Upper Chenab-Balloki Link - Chenab-Ravi

vii. Qadirabad-Balloki Link - Chenab-Ravi

viii. Trimmu-Sidhnai Link - Chenab-Ravi

ix. Balloki-Sulaimanke Link - Ravi-Sutlej

x. Sidhnai-Mailsi Link - Ravi-Sutlej

RIVERS IN PAKISTAN AND BARRAGES/HEADWORKS ON THEM:

i. Indus: Chashma, Taunsa, Guddu, Sukkur, Kotri

ii. Jhelum: Rasul

iii. Chenab: Marala, Khanki, Qadirabad, Trimmu

iv. Ravi: Balloki, Sidhnai

v. Sutlej: Sulaimanke, Islam, Punjnad

OTHER DAMS:

HUB DAM is a large water storage reservoir constructed in 1981 on the Hub River on the arid plains north of Karachi. It is located on the provincial border between Baluchistan and Sind, Pakistan. The reservoir supplies water for irrigation in Lasbela District of Baluchistan and drinking water for the city of Karachi. The Hub reservoir can grow up to 32 square miles (83 km2) and provides for angling.

MIRANI DAM is located in Gwadar District, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Mirani Dam multipurpose project, is located on Dasht River, about 30 miles west of Turbat in Makran Division of Balochistan, it envisages provision of dependable irrigation supplies on the two banks of the river. The project was completed in November 2006 and was inaugurated by Pervez Musharraf who was president of Pakistan at that time.

NAMAL DAM was constructed in 1913. Namal Dam is situated some 32 km from Mianwali city. The lake has a surface area of 5.5 km². There are mountains on its western and southern sides. On the other two sides are agricultural areas.

RAWAL DAM is an artificial reservoir that provides the water needs for the cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. This artificial lake covers an area of 8.8 km². It is built on river sawan. Rawal Lake is located within an isolated section of the Margalla Hills National Park. It fulfills the needs of domestic water of Islamabad and Rawalpindi & also irrigate 500 acres of agricultural area.

PROPOSED DAMS:

AKHORI DAM Project is one of the projects of Water Vision 2025, which is proposed by the former Pakistan Muslim League (Q)'s Government. The dam will stored about 8.6 billion cubic meters of water that is split filling the Tarbela reservoir during the monsoon season.

BUNJI HYDROPOWER PROJECT is run of a river project proposed to be located on Indus River, with dam and powerhouse 85 and 60 km respectively from Gilgit city in Northern Areas of Pakistan. A 190 m high dam with crest length of 400 m would create 22 km long reservoir. Five 7.8 km long power tunnels would divert a design discharge of 1900 m3/s to an underground powerhouse which will house 20 Francis turbines and generators with an installed capacity of 7,100 MW.

THE KALABAGH DAM was a mega water reservoir that the Government of Pakistan was planning to develop across the Indus River, one of the world's largest rivers. The proposed site for the dam was situated at Kalabagh in Mianwali District of the north-west Punjab province, bordering the North-West Frontier Province.The dam project was highly controversial and had been since its inception. In December 2005, General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, announced that he would definitely build the

dam in the larger interest of Pakistan. In May 26, 2008, Federal Minister for Water and Power of Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraf, said that the Kalabagh Dam would not be constructed. He said due to the opposition from NWFP, Sindh and other stakeholder, the project was no longer feasible.

DIAMER-BHASHA DAM is the name of a dam that has been planned in the Northern Areas of Pakistan on the River Indus. Diamer Basha Dam Project will be the highest Roller Compacted Concrete Dam in the world, height of 272 meters spillway with fourteen (14) gates each 11.5 m x 16.24 m. The gross capacity of the reservoir will be 8.1 MAF, with a live storage of 6.4 MAF. Two underground power houses are being proposed, one on each side of the main dam having six turbines on each side with total installed capacity 4500 MW. Scheduled completion period of the project is w.e.f. 2009 to 2016, at a tentative cost of US $ 12.6 Billion.

OTHER SMALL DAMS: There are many other small dams built on different rivers of Pakistan some of them are, sabak zai dam, windar dam, munda dam, gomal zam dam, the shakidor dam, karoonjhar dam e

FUTURE OF WATER RESOURCES AND NEEDS:  

One of the key issues to Pakistan is the growing population pressure, which is responsible for driving its water resource development. It has the world's fastest growing population that has surpassed the 140 million mark by now and is still increasing at an alarming rate of around 2.8%, which needs to be checked, whereas the growth rate in agriculture sector remains somehow lower than the demand due to limiting irrigation water. To keep up the pace of agricultural growth comparable to population growth, we must bring additional lands under cultivation. In order to achieve the required growth targets in agriculture, we will need estimated amounts of about 149 MAF by 2000, 215 MAF by year 2013 and about 277 MAF by year 2025. This scenario warns that Pakistan has already slid from water affluent country to a water scare country and already a shortage of over 40 MAF persists and it will increase to a projected water shortage of over 108 MAF, and 151 MAF by years 2013 and 2025, respectively. Since no additional water is available, it is better to improve the existing water system and land capabilities; otherwise, Pakistan will be facing acute shortages of food, fiber, and edible oils in near future. It is time to recognize our responsibilities and start taking steps in right direction. We must keep eye on the issues such as, inadequate management and inefficient operation of irrigation systems, poor water application & unequal water distribution, depletion of ground water resources, reduction in storage capacities of existing system, and wastage of summer river surpluses and slow agricultural growth.

Recommendations

The unchecked growth of population has increased pressure on land and water resources throughout the world; thus, it has become imperative to conserve our water supplies. New sources are becoming scare and are unlikely to be constructed in the near future (except small dams) due to geo-political reasons, naturally, the emphasis must be given on methods that can salvage the supplies already being lost within the irrigation system in the form of seepage.

The second largest contribution to the total water availability comes from the ground water resources. This source has been exploited and very well utilized by the public SCARP and private tube wells. It can still provide over 9 MAF of water. This source could be exploited and judiciously used for irrigation purposes. However, in some areas groundwater is rapidly depleting due to excessive pumpage, government should take control in such areas to save them from depleting.

Water conservation programmes, such as, lining of minor canals. distributaries, and water courses should be accelerated, this would not only save the huge quantities of water, but would also help reduce problems of water logging and salinity in the country. Conjunctive use of water based on scientific lines should be encouraged. Efforts should be made to convert the present rotation-based-irrigation system to demand oriented system. Besides that, the modern irrigation application techniques (trickle, sprinkler etc.), that have potential to improve water distribution and water use efficiencies, should be introduced in the areas with water scarcity. Particularly, in Sindh province, for the development of Kohistan areas of Dadu and Karachi districts, such techniques would be beneficial, thus, may be initiated.

Since, improper management, poor operation and maintenance of irrigation systems, inefficient application, and inequitable distribution of available water at farm gate have remained major problems since the existence of the irrigation network. Increasing water demand, deferred maintenance, siltation of channel prism, excessive water by tampered outlets, and illegal water extraction all lead towards inequity in the system. Similarly, outlets on a minor or distributary receive different amounts of water. Thus, it is need of time that government should take appropriate measures to ensure equitable distribution, to stop illegal extraction, and to improve system efficiency. One way to over come these problems is to empower water users so that they can play effective role in managing the proper water supplies in their distributaries, minors, and watercourses. The past experiences show that irrigation department has failed to stop illegal theft and extraction thus irrigation distribution system needs to be privatized through water users associations. Also, irrigation water is supplied at negligible cost to irrigators that is why they do not treat water as a precious resource; therefore, there is a need to increase the water prices to make irrigators realize the importance of this asset.

Inspite of continuous efforts, the desired national targets have not been achieved. Low crop yields, decreasing fertility of lands, onslaught of water logging & salinity problems coupled with environmental degradation, improper water management, and miserable economic conditions of the farmers are the indicators that we have to work harder and go a long way to make improvements in agriculture sector through development and transfer of modern technologies of agricultural lands. However, to enhance optimum crop production per unit volume of water consumed, high yielding varieties should be introduced and better agronomic inputs (fertilizers and pesticides) should be applied on scientific basis. It is also recommended that the crops should be irrigated as per their requirements. The existing crop water requirements can theoretically be met by converting the existing irrigation system to crop consumptive use based system. This will allow water to be delivered at time of requirement and the amounts nearly matched to crop needs.

Farmer's organizations, water user associations, and private sector be involved in construction, operation, and maintenance of irrigation system. Such associations are conceived as a mechanism for creating a co-operative framework for improvement of watercourses.

Water required in future

Year Water required

Water availableSurface + Ground

Shortage

. MAF MAF MAF

2000 149 109 40

2013 215 107 108

2025 277 126 151

 

Potential for water development per annum

Water source MAF

Surface water reservoir (Kalabagh, Basha, and Dassu)

17

Surface water reservoir (12 small dams sites proposed)

16

Water lost in canals and distributaries 21

Water lost in minors 5

Water lost in water courses 15

Groundwater 9

Sub-total 83ITarar, 1997; 2Afzal, 1997; 3Khalid 1997; and 4WAPDA 1987; MAF = Million acre-feet.

SUMMARY:

1. Indus — Tarbela dam, Warsak dam (on the Kabul river near the Indus), Kalabagh barrage (also named as Jinnah barrage) at Kalabagh, Chashma reservoir, Tausa barrage, Gudu barrage, Sukkur barrage, Kotri barrage.

2. Jhelum — Mangla dam, Rasul barrage, Punjnad headworks.

3. Chenab — Marala headworks, Khanki headworks, Qadirabad barrage.

4. Ravi — Balloki barrage, Sidnai barrage.

5. Sutlej — Sulemanki barrage, Islam barrage2. The natural geo-agricultural pattern has made in such a way that the Chenab meets the

Jhelum near Trimmu, the Ravi meets the Jhelum downwards, and the Sutlej meets the Jhelum at Pujnand, and still down, the combination of these rivers meets the Indus at Mithankot. Then the Indus flows down into Sindh. There are three barrages in Sindh while all other waterworks are upcountry.

Another fact is that in Punjab all rivers and waterworks are interconnected by channels and links as under:

1. C-J link (Chashma-Jhelum link) connects the Indus at Chashma with the Jhelum above Trimmu.

2. U-J-C link (upper Jhelum Chenab Link) connects the Jhelum from Mangla to the Chenab above Khanki headworks.

3. R-Q link (Rasul-Qadirabad link) connects the Jhelum at Rasul with the Chenab at the Qadirabad barrage.

4. M-R link (Marala-Ravi link) connects the Chenab at Marala with the Ravi at Shahdara).

5. Q-B link (Qadirabad-Balloki link) connects the Chenab at Qadirabad with the Ravi at Balloki.

6. T-S link (Trimmu-Sidnai link) connects the Jhelum at Trimmu with the Ravi at Sidnai.

7. S-M link (Sidnai-Malsi link) connects the Ravi at Sidnai with Malsi that passes through the Sutlej.

8. The BRBD link is about a 100-mile-long channel from a branch of Marala across the Ravi towards the Sutlej.

9. B-S I & II (Balloki-Sulemanki) are two links which connect the Ravi at Balloki with the Sutlej at Sulemanki.

REFERENCES:

www.google.com

www.answers.com

http://irrigation.gov.pk

www.yahoo.com

www.authorstream.com

http://www.wapda.gov.pk

http://www.sindh.gov.pk

http://www.britannica.com

Report by, Dr. Muhammad Saffar Mirjat  and Abdul Samad Chandio,Professor and Assistant Professor, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam and Irrigation department Punjab.