"DESCON which is the leading construction company of Pakistan has recently completed the construction of new Khanki Barrage Wazirabad at the cost of Rs 21.3 billion in record 50 months. The project is funded by Asian Development Bank and Government of Punjab."
Project Manager of Descon Sheikh Anees said this while talking to a group of journalists during their visit to the project site. He also said that project life of New Khanki Barrage is 150 years. The barrage is constructed at 900 feet downstream of the existing Khanki Headwork's. He said that project was completed in time despite 2014 floods.
He said that water was not stopped for not a single day during the construction and for this purpose they develop a technology. The barrage will ensure safe passage of floods ranging from 800,000 cusecs to 1,100,000 cusecs.
He further said that primary purpose of construction of this barrage is to ensure sustainable irrigation for 3.3 million acres of land in eight of the most fertile districts of central Punjab which includes Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Chiniot, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Jhang and Toba Tek Singh.
The barrage will increase agriculture production as well as farm income.
Sheikh said that shutters of the barrage were operated by just pressing a button from the control room. Before that around two dozen people who were working in low pay scale are manually operated the British-era shutters that were placed to divert water from the Chenab River to Lower Chenab Canal aimed at ensuring water supplies for irrigations for the fertile districts of central Punjab.
He said opening and closing of as many as 962 shutters was done by using manually operated trolley over the bridge and boat in the river to pull the shutters. It took two to three days to change the positions of all the shutters.
While giving details of the Khanki Barrage Sheikh Anees said that Khanki headworks was constructed in the year 1892 and is one of the oldest weirs in the subcontinent. The weir has deteriorated and outlived its life. At that time, it had been designed and constructed under conditions of extreme economy. The weir was repeatedly damaged in portions and had to be remodelled extensively in 1935.
The damage to the irrigation network at Baluki-Sulemanki juncture in 1997 was the wakeup call for the Punjab Irrigation Department (PID), which carried out studies to strengthen its infrastructure.
Sheikh said that on the recommendations of irrigation experts, the decision of reconstruction of 123 years old Khanki Barrage was taken in 2008, so that water supply could be continued to canals of Chenab Bridge regularly.