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Taunsa Barrage
تونسہ بیراج
Taunsa Barrage at sunset
30°30′46″N 70°50′57″E / 30.51278°N 70.84917°E / 30.51278; 70.84917
Waterway	Indus River
Country	Pakistan
State	Punjab
Maintained by	Project Management Office (PMO) for Punjab Barrages, Rehabilitation & Modernization Projects
Operation	construction began in 1952 – completed in 1958
First built	1958
Length	4,346 feet (1,325 m)
Discharge capacity Up to 1 million cusec
Ramsar Wetland
Designated	22 March 1996
Reference no.	817

Head Taunsa Barrage is a barrage on the River Indus in Taunsa district of previously Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab province of Pakistan. It is situated 20 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of Taunsa Sharif and Shadan Lund 16 kilometres (9.9 miles) from district Kot Addu. This barrage controls water flow in the River Indus for irrigation and flood control purposes. Taunsa Barrage Wildlife Sanctuary was designated a Ramsar site on 22 March 1996.

This barrage serves 2.351 million acres (951,400 hectares) of land besides diverting flows from Indus River to the Chenab River through Taunsa-Panjnad Link Canal (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.

Background

Taunsa Barrage was completed in 1958. Head Draftsman Syed Tufail Hussain Shah received Silver Medal from President of Pakistan Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan on their commendable services rendered on the completion of Taunsa Barrage on March 3, 1959. The canal system fed by the barrage initially consisted of Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan 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.

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 km) and drinking water in the rural areas of southern Punjab, benefiting several million farmers. Taunsa Barrage is one of the most vulnerable water diversion projects built on Indus River.

In April 2004, 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 erosion and old-age. The project was designed to ensure irrigation of the cultivated lands in the area of the Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan Tehsil canals, and through the TP 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. 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.

See also

• List of barrages and headworks in Pakistan
• List of dams and reservoirs in Pakistan

References

1. ^ High flood at Taunsa barrage alarms authorities Dawn (newspaper), Published 22 July 2015, Retrieved 6 November 2017
2. "Taunsa Barrage". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
3. Performance Assessment of Taunsa Barrage University Of Engineering and Technology (uet.edu.pk) website, Published 7 July 2010, Retrieved 6 November 2017
4. Engineering failures Dawn (newspaper), Published 16 August 2010, Retrieved 6 November 2017
5. "Sindhu Bachao Tarla protest against World Bank". Pakistan Today (newspaper). 2 December 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
6. What went wrong at Taunsa Dawn (newspaper), Published 13 August 2010, Retrieved 6 November 2017
7. "Taunsa Barrage project: Affected people continue protest". The Express Tribune (newspaper). 3 December 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2017.

v t e Protected areas of Pakistan
National parks	Ayub Ayubia Broghil Valley Central Karakoram Chinji Chitral Gol Deosai Deva Vatala Fairy Meadows Gumot Hazarganji-Chiltan Hingol Kala Chitta Kamal Ban Khunjerab Kirthar Lal Suhanra Lulusar-Dodipat Machiara Malakandi Margalla Hills Nizampur Panjal Mastan Saiful Muluk Shandur Sheikh Badin Tolipir Manglot
Wildlife sanctuaries	Astore Bajwat Baltistan Chashma Lake Cholistan Chumbi Surla Deh Akro Hub Dam Lehri Nature Park Naltar Nara Desert Rann of Kutch Ras Koh Taunsa Barrage Ziarat Juniper
Wetlands of Pakistan	Astola Island Chashma Barrage Chinna Creek Deh Akro Drigh Lake Rann of Kutch Haleji Lake Hawke's Bay Beach Hingol River Hub Dam Indus River Delta Jiwani Coastal Wetland Jubho Lagoon Keti Bandar Khanpur Dam Keenjhar Lake Miani Hor Ormara Turtle Beaches Rasul Barrage Rawal lake Sandspit Beach Tanda Dam Taunsa Barrage Thanedar Wala Uchhali Complex
Natural monuments	Bazar Caves Chandragup Chitarwata Formation Hingol Mud Volcano Kashmir Smast Paradise Point
Forests	Ziarat Juniper Forest Changa Manga Forest Chichawatni Plantation Lashari wala Forest
Biosphere reserves	Lal Suhanra Ziarat Juniper Forest

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• Irrigation in Pakistan
• Locks (water navigation)
• Dams in Pakistan
• Ramsar sites in Pakistan
• Dams completed in 1958
• Dams on the Indus River
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