Sukkur barrage
Encyclopedia
Sukkur Barrage is a barrage
Barrage (dam)
A barrage is a type of dam which consists of a line of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing the dam. The gates are set between flanking piers which are responsible for supporting the water load...

 on the River Indus near the city of Sukkur
Sukkur
Sukkur, or Sakharu , formerly Aror and Bakar, is the third largest city of Sindh province, situated on the west bank of Indus River in Pakistan in Sukkur District. However, the word Sakharu in Sindhi means "superior", which the spelling of the city's name in Sindhi suggests is the origin of the...

 in the Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 province of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.

Sukkur Barrage is used to control water flow in the River Indus for irrigation and flood control purposes.

Sukkur Barrage was built during the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 from 1923 to 1932 and named Lloyd Barrage.

The barrage enables water to flow through what was originally a network of canals 6166 miles (9,923.2 km) long, feeding the largest irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

 system in the world, with more than 5 million acres (20,000 km²) of irrigated land.

The retaining wall has 66 spans each 60 feet (18.3 m) wide. Each span has a gate weighing 50 tons.

Blind river dolphin
River dolphin
River dolphins are the four living species of dolphin that reside in freshwater rivers and estuaries. River dolphins inhabit areas of Asia and South America. They are classed in the Platanistoidea superfamily of cetaceans. Three species live in fresh water rivers. The fourth species, the La Plata...

s are occasionally seen upstream of the barrage.

See also


External links

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