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1. PAKISTAN
DAMS AND BARRAGES
1.1 Importance of Dams for
Pakistan
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. An even more important fact is
that many of Pakistan’s industries are agro-
based, such as the textiles industry. Pakistan
is fortunate in the soils, topography and
climate, which are suitable for year round
agriculture. Major agricultural areas lie within
the plains formed by Indus River and its
tributaries, namely Kabul, Chenab, Ravi,
Jhelum and Sutlej. Indus plains are like a

2. tunnel with number of water sources at the top,
converging into single stream, which flows into
the Arabian Sea, near the city of Karachi. First
canal were constructed some 5to 6 centuries
ago and extended under the great Mogul
emperors. In earlier l9th century, there were
numerous inundation canals leading from
Indus and its tributaries. World's largest
contiguous irrigation project was started in l9th
century. After independence in1947, many
more developments in the canal systems were
made. Different barrages/canals i.e., (Kotri
barrage-1956, Taunsa barrage-1958 and
Guddu barrage-1962), link canals (Marala-Ravi
(MR), Bambanwala-Ravi-Bedian-Dipalpur
(BRBD) andBalloki-Salimanki (B S) were
constructed.
1.2 Dams in Pakistan:
Three main dams
Mangla, Tarbela and Warsak were constructed
for the purpose of generating electricity and

3. irrigating agricultural land. In addition, there
are 23barrages/head works/syphons; main
irrigation canals are 45, which have extended
up to40,000 miles. Similarly, there are 90,000
water courses, which are extended up to one
million miles.
Tarbela Dam:
The world's largest earth-filled dam on one of the
world's most important rivers- the Indus - is 103
km from Rawalpindi. The dam was completed in
1976 at a cost of Rs.18.5 billion. Over
15,000Pakistani and 800 foreign workers and
engineers worked during its construction. It is the
biggest hydel power station in Pakistan having a
capacity of generating 3,478 MW of electricity. Its
reservoir is 97 km long with a depth of 137 meters
while total area of the lake is 260 Sq Km. The
Damand Power House can be visited after
acquiring permits from the Water and Power
Development Authority (WAPDA)along with a No-

4. Objection Certificate(NOC) from the Ministry
of Interior.
Mangla Dam:

5. The Mangla Dam on the River
Jhelum is one of the longest earth-fill dams in
the world. The Indus Basin treaty of 1960 with
India paved the way for its construction. The
treaty provided for two dams, one on the River
Jhelum at Mangla and the other on the Indus at
Tarbela. World's third largest earth-filled dam is
only 115 km south-east of Rawalpindi. One has
to turn left from Dina Town and the dam on
river Jhelum is about 14 km to the east. The
dam is 3,353 meters (11,000 ft) long and 116
meters high above the river bed with a crest
elevation of 1,234 feet. It is designed to store
5.88 MAF water and also used for power
generation. In the centre of the dam there is
the Gakkhar Fort from where one can have a
panoramic view of the lake. The Dam and
Power House can be visited after acquiring
permits from the Water and Power
Development Authority (WAPDA) along with a

6. No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the
Ministry of Interior. Besides the main dam,
Sukian Dyke, 17,000 feet in length, and a small
dam 3,700 feet long to block the Jari Nala were
also constructed. Jari Dam is 11 miles from New
Mirpur. Mangla Dam has two spill way son the
right side. The main spillway has a normal
service capacity of 900,000 cusecs. It has nine
gates 36 feet wide and40 feet high. The second
is an emergency spillway. Its design provides
for a future increase of48 feet in height.

7. WARSAK DAM:
The gignatic multi-purpose Warsak Dam on
River Kabul is situated 30 KMs north-west of
Peshawar in the heart of tribal territory. It has a
total generating capacity of 240,000 KW and

8. will eventually serve to irrigate 110,000 acres of
land.
The 250 ft. high and 460 ft. long dam with
reservoir of 4 square miles had a live storage
capacity of 25,300 acre-feet of water for
irrigation of 119,000 acres of land and meeting
power generation requirement. A spillway with
nine gates is capable to discharge 540,000
cusecs of flood water.

9. KHANPUR DAM:
This beautiful lake/dam is 48
km from Islamabad on Taxila-Haripur Road. It is
an ideal place for day trip/picnic, boating,
angling and watching migratory birds during
winter. KhanpurDam has been constructed in a
narrow gorge on the Haro River. It is a multi
purpose project which supplies drinking water

10. to Islamabad and Rawalpindi and irrigation
water to KPK (110 cusecs) and Punjab
(87cusecs).Khanpurvillage, from which the dam
derives its name, has been submerged by there
servoir, so a new Khanpur town has been built
downstream of the Dam. The dam is167 feet
high and stores 106,000 acre feet of water.
Construction was started in 1968and
completed in 1983 at a cost of Rs.1352 million.
Ghazi Barotha Hydro Power Project:
Ghazi
Barotha Hydro Power Project is a Run-of-the-
River power project on the Indus River located
downstream of Tarbela Dam. The project
provides the nation with a continuous peak
power of 1450mw, 24 hours a day. The project
was completed during the fiscal year 2003-
2004. This is a major run of river and
environmentally sustain able project designed

11. to meet the acute shortage of peak power
demand in the country. Ghazi Barotha
Hydropower Project with a generation capacity
of 1450 MW and an average energy output of
6600 GWh is a large, renewable and emission
free source ofenergy towards WAPDA’s Vision
2025 goals. The Project has three main
components, a Barrage, a Power Channel and a
Power Complex.
The Barrage:
located 7 km downstream of
Tarbela Dam, provides a pond which re-
regulates the daily discharge from Tarbela by
diverting the flow into the Power Channel.
Power channel:
Ghazi Barotha Hydropower Project
holds the record for the biggest concrete lined

12. in the world which conveys a design flow of
1600 cumecs (56,500cusecs) of water from the
barrage to the power complex. The channel is
52 km long with a bed slope of 1 in 9600, a
water depth of 9 m, a base width of 58.4 m and
a velocity of 2.33 m/sec.

13. The Power Complex:
is located near the
confluence of the Indus and Haro rivers. It
comprises a fore bay , a siphon, spillway , two
head ponds, a power in take structure ,
penstocks, a power house with five 290 MW
each turbo generators and a tailrace channel.
Misriot Dam:
Misriot dam is located 12 km
south-west of Rawalpindi. This small dam has
an artificial lake with boating and fishing
facilities. Fishing permit may be obtained from
fishing guardat Misriot. It has a pleasant
landscape and walkways beyond the lake
among eruptions of black rocks.
Tanaza Dam:

14. It is a small dam located at about 35 Km south-
west of Rawalpindi on Dhamial Road.Ideal for a
day trip, the lake has a quiet atmosphere.
1.3 WAPDA training centers:
The Water and
Power Development Authority (WAPDA) of
Pakistan has numerous training centers in the
country providing quality training to national
and international Power sector employees.
Some of the training centers are as follows:
WAPDA Staff College, Islamabad.
WAPDA Engineering Academy (Water &
Power), Faisalabad
Thermal Generation Training Center, Guddu

15. Hydel Training Center, Mangla
Technical Services Group, Lahore
8 Regional Training Centers (RTCs), one at each
DISCO