TAUNSA BARRAGE Taunsa Barrage is located on the River Indus at about 39 km south of Taunsa Sharif town and 17 km north-west of town of Kot Addu. It was constructed from 1953–1958 to provide weir-controlled irrigation supplies to originally flood fed areas on both banks of the river along with some new lands in the Thal desert area. The Barrage serves 2.351 million acres (951,400 hectares) besides diverting flows from the River Indus to the River Chenab through Taunsa-Panjnad (TP) Link Canal. The Barrage also serves as an arterial road bridge, a railway bridge, and a crossing for gas, oil, telephone lines as well as high voltage transmission lines. The Barrage, as originally constructed, has 65 bays with a total width of 4,346 ft between the abutments. BARRAGE DATA Capacity (cusecs) Length b/w abutt. (ft) Clear water way (ft) 1,000,000 4346 3860 Off-taking Canals Name Design Length (Canal Miles) CCA Disch. Cap. Main Branches & Total (000, acres) (000, cs) Distys. Muzaffargarh Canal 8.3 74.2 978 1,053 838 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. .