Page 194 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

Off-taking Canals
Name Design Length (Canal Miles) CCA
Disch. Main Branches & Total (000, acres)
Cap. Distys.
(000, cs)
Muzaffargarh 8.3 74.2 978 1,053 838
Canal Muzaffargarh
District
DG Khan Canal 8.9/14.2 69.0 1049 1,118 950
DG Khan &
Rajanpur
districts
TP Link Canal 12 38 - 38 -

Taunsa Barrage Project was initially conceived in 1936 and after passing
through many vicissitudes was sanctioned in 1953. Construction also
commenced the same year. The project was commissioned in 1958 and
formally inaugurated on March 3, 1959 by the then president, General Ayub
Khan.

Taunsa Barrage is the most important barrage amongst those built across
the mighty Indus and its tributaries as it commands large areas in Punjab
and Balochistan provinces. The canal system fed by the Barrage initially
consisted of Muzaffargarh Canal and DG Khan Canal. The former was
completed in 1960, while the latter although opened in 1958 continued to
remain under construction for some more years. TP Link Canal was added
in 1970, as a component of the Indus Basin Project. Muzaffargarh Canal and
TP Link Canal are on the left flank of the Barrage while DG Khan Canal is on
the right flank. Also, recent construction of head regulator of Kachhi Canal
on right flank would eventually enable a withdrawal of 6000 cusecs for
irrigation of Kachhi plain in Balochistan. TP Link Canal conveys Indus River
water to the Chenab River to supplement irrigation in Panjnad Barrage
command area during periods of water shortage in the latter.

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