Page 192 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

Panjnad Barrage is situated just below the confluence of River Sutlej and
Chenab, 7 km away from the main city of Alipur, on the border of two districts
i.e. Muzaffargarh and Bahawalpur. It was constructed during 1925–1929
under the Sutlej Valley Project with a designed discharge capacity of .45
million cusecs of water. The Barrage was recommissioned in 1932 for design
discharge of .7 million cusecs. The Barrage pond area falls in Tehsil Alipur
(District Muzaffargarh) and Tehsil Ahmedpur East (District Bahawalpur). The
road bridge at Panjnad Barrage is utilized by the traffic coming to and from
Sindh, particularly Karachi. Three canals i.e. Panjnad Canal, Abbasia Canal
and Abbasia Link Canal with design discharge of 7,769 cusecs, 1,064 cusecs
and 5,600 cusecs respectively, off take from left side of the Barrage. The
Barrage has a gross command area (GCA) of 1.81 million acres and provides
irrigation supplies to cultivated command area (CCA) of 1.62 million acres
(0.66 million ha) falling mainly in the District Rahim Yar Khan (96%).

BARRAGE DATA

Design discharge (cusecs) 700,000
Total width between abutments (ft) 3,400
Clear water way (ft) 2,820
(47 bays of 60 ft width
each)
Minimum U/S flood level (ft) R.L. 341.50
Minimum D/S flood level (ft) R.L. 340.30
Pond level – normal (ft) R.L. 337.50
Crest level (ft) R.L. 325.00

In 2018, a mega rehabilitation project was started at the Barrage with the
collaboration of Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the first time since its
construction in 1929. The project would cost around Rs 4.5 billion, and take
3 years to complete as a result of which the discharge from the headworks
would increase from .7 million cusecs to .86 million cusecs.

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