{{Short description|Indus River barrage in Punjab, Pakistan}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox dam | name_official = {{Nastaliq|تونسہ بیراج}} | image = Taunsa Barrage Kot Addu (cropped).jpg | image_caption = Taunsa Barrage at sunset | dam_crosses = Indus River | country = Pakistan | location = Punjab | operator = [https://www.pmo-pb.gop.pk Project Management Office (PMO) for Punjab Barrages, Rehabilitation & Modernization Projects] | construction_began = 1952 | opening = 1958<ref name=Dawn/> | latest = | dam_length = {{convert|4346|ft|m}} | width = | fall = | sealevel = | coordinates = {{Coord|30|30|46|N|70|50|57|E|type:landmark_region:PK|display=inline,title}} | heritage = | spillway_capacity = Up to 1 million cusec | extra = {{Designation list|embed = yes | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_date = 22 March 1996 | designation1_number = 817<ref>{{Cite web|title=Taunsa Barrage|website=Ramsar Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/817|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref> }} }}
'''Taunsa Barrage''' ({{Langx|ur|{{nastaliq|تونسہ بیراج}}}}) is a barrage on the River Indus in Taunsa, Punjab province of Pakistan.<ref name="Dawn">[https://www.dawn.com/news/1195580 High flood at Taunsa barrage alarms authorities] Dawn (newspaper), Published 22 July 2015, Retrieved 6 November 2017</ref> It is situated {{convert|20|km|mi|abbr=off}} southeast of main Taunsa city and Shadan Lund and {{convert|16|km|mi|abbr=off}} 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.
thumb|Taunsa Barrage at dusk
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.<ref>[http://www.uet.edu.pk/research/researchinfo/6-RJ-JULY-2010/6-Art-8.pdf Performance Assessment of Taunsa Barrage] University Of Engineering and Technology (uet.edu.pk) website, Published 7 July 2010, Retrieved 6 November 2017</ref>
==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 commendable services rendered on the completion of Taunsa Barrage on 3 March 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 has been 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<sup>2</sup>) 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.<ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/844334 Engineering failures] Dawn (newspaper), Published 16 August 2010, Retrieved 6 November 2017</ref>
In April 2004, the World Bank approved a $123 million loan to Pakistan to rehabilitate the Taunsa Barrage, whose structure had been damaged owing to soil erosion and old-age.<ref name=Dawn/> 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.<ref name=PakistanToday>{{cite news|url=http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/12/sindhu-bachao-tarla-protest-against-wb/|title=Sindhu Bachao Tarla protest against World Bank|publisher=Pakistan Today (newspaper)|date=2 December 2011|accessdate=6 November 2017}}</ref><ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/887519 What went wrong at Taunsa] Dawn (newspaper), Published 13 August 2010, Retrieved 6 November 2017</ref> 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.<ref name=taunsa>{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/301446/taunsa-barrage-project-affected-people-continue-protest/|title=Taunsa Barrage project: Affected people continue protest|publisher=The Express Tribune (newspaper)|date=3 December 2011|accessdate=6 November 2017}}</ref>
==See also== * List of barrages and headworks in Pakistan * List of dams and reservoirs in Pakistan
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Pakistani Dams and Water Locks}} {{Protected areas of Pakistan}} {{Indus River dams}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taunsa Barrage}} Category:Irrigation in Pakistan Category:Locks (water navigation) Category:Dams in Punjab, Pakistan Category:Ramsar sites in Pakistan Category:Dams completed in 1958 Category:Dams on the Indus River
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