Salient Features of Indus Basin Irrigation System (Pakistan) - Barrages, Head-works, Canals Dams etc

Indus Basin Irrigation System and it various Salient Features 

(Barrages, Headwork, Canals, and Dams)

Irrigation means the artificial way of watering the crops. Pakistan is highly dependent on agriculture, which in turn is dependent on water. Of the79.6 million hectares of land that makeup Pakistan, 20 million are available for agricultural. Of those 20 million hectares, 16 million are dependent on irrigation. It is estimated that up to 90% of Pakistan's agriculture is dependent on irrigation. 67% of our land is irrigated due to little rainfall. The most important means of our irrigation is our system of canals. The progress of our country depends upon the means of irrigation and their progress. All parts except northern mountains depend upon irrigation. Our canals irrigate 70% of our lands while 14% is left for tube-wells, Persian wheels Karez and ponds.

Irrigation

Pakistan is Blessed with natural surface water and abundance of ground water as it is the part of one of world largest water resources, Indus basin.

 Salient Features of Pakistan Irrigation System (Barrages, Headwork, Canals and Dams)

Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop production, which include protecting plants against frost, suppressing weed growth in a grain field and preventing soil consolidation. Irrigation systems are also used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage, and in mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area.

History of Irrigation

Water is the most important input required for plant growth for agriculture production. Irrigation can be defined as replenishment of soil water storage in plant root zone through methods other than natural precipitation. Irrigation has seen to have found its roots in the history of mankind since the earliest beginning. It helps reduce the uncertainties, particularly the climatic uncertainties in agriculture practices. Archaeological investigation has identified evidence of irrigation where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support crops.

Indus Basin Irrigation System

Pakistan, a country of enchanting landscapes offers a combination of beaches, mountains, beautiful deserts and valleys. Its vast farm lands are sustained by the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS), the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world. The IBIS irrigates 45 million acres of farm land which produces wheat, rice, fruits, vegetables, sugarcane, maize and cotton in abundance for local use as well as for export.

Historical Background

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization (3300-1300 BC) that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India. Flourishing around the Indus River basin, the civilization primarily centered along the Indus and the Punjab region, extending into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley and the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. Geographically, the civilization was spread over an area of some 1,260,000 km², making it the largest ancient civilization in the world

The Indus Valley has been the host to one of the most ancient civilizations of human history, the Indus Valley Civilization. After the extinction of the Indus Civilization, new settlements, especially in doabs, grew slowly. New irrigation systems started to evolve. Inundation canals and small dams were constructed and population grew all around this area. In order to reduce the occurrence of low irrigation water supply the British authorities, towards the middle of the last century, started modernizing and expanding the irrigation system of the Indus Basin.

Treaty Between Pakistan and India

In 1947, the Indian sub-continent was partitioned by the British into two independent states – Pakistan and India. After the partition, a commission was set up to resolve any issue that may emerge as a consequence of the partition. The matter of utilization of water resources of Indus Basin was raised by Pakistan. The boundary commission, chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliff, awarded control barrages (situated very close to the border) to India, while 90 percent of irrigated land lay in Pakistan. After a protracted negotiation of ten years through the facilitation of the World Bank, the Indus Basin Treaty was signed by India and Pakistan in 1960 for distribution of water resources in the Indus Basin. According to the terms of the treaty, India was given the exclusive use of the waters of the eastern rivers namely Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas. Pakistan was not given its full historic share and was allocated only 75 percent of its legitimate share of the waters in Indus Basin. Consequently, Pakistan agreed to embark upon a gigantic project nicknamed as “Indus Basin Replacement Works”. The extensive undertaking involved the construction of two major dams, five barrages, and eight link canals.

Pakistan’s economy is largely based on its agricultural produce. Water is, therefore, a critical resource for its sustained economic development. In order to fully utilize the river water resources, the IBIS has emerged as the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world. The IBIS comprises of three large dams, eighty-five small dams, nineteen barrages, twelve inter-river link canals, forty-five canal commands and 0.7 million tube wells in monetary terms, this network is the biggest infrastructure enterprise of Pakistan accounting for approximately US$ 300 billion of investment.

Salient Features of Indus Basin Irrigation system

It is 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 and field ditches. The total length of main canal system is estimated about 585000 Kilometer (36932 miles) and that of watercourses &field channels exceeds 1.62million Kilometers (over 1.02 million miles). Catchment area of Indus is most unique in the sense that it contains seven (7) of the world’s highest peaks after Mount Everest. Among these include the K2 (28,253 ft), Nanga Parbat (26,600 ft), Rakaposhi (25,552 ft) etc. Further to above, seven (7) glaciers situated in the Indus catchment are among the largest in the world, namely, Siachin, Hispar, Biafo, Baltura, Baltoro, Barpu and Hopper

Barrages and Headwork of Pakistan

There are following barrages that are built across the rivers of Pakistan:

1. Chashma Barrage
2. Islam Barrage
3. Jinnah Barrage
4. Ghazi Barrage
5. Taunsa Barrage
6. Guddu Barrage
7. Sukkhar Barrage
8. Kotri Barrage (Ghulam Muhammad Barrage)
9. Marrala Barrage
10.  Qadriabad Barrage
11.  Trimmu Barrage
12.   Punjnand Barrage
13. Rasul Barrage
14. Sulaimanki Barrage
15. Balloki Barrage
16.  Sidhnai Barrage
17.  Mailsi Barrage
18. Khanki Headwork

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