Rivers have played a very important role in the life of man. They have served, as trade routes from the earliest times. Before the building of roads and railways, most trade was carried on by boats and ships along rivers. This was the reason that most towns in ancient times were built near rivers.
In addition to this, rivers have served man in another way. Man, was dependent on rains for growing crops, but there was no way to get rain water from irrigation at the required time. Nor, could the rains be relied upon the right amount of water. It was only later that man learned to store rain wate and use it for agriculture in the dry season. Rivers had water in abundance, so man thought of digging canals to get water from rivers for irrigation. The system of canals proved a better source of water supply, but it had one defect. When there ws shortage of water in the rivers during the winter season, the canals, would run dry and the farmers, would be left without about water for their crops.
Two problems posed by rivers are, how to get water from the rivers throughout the year and how to escape the fury of floods. Barrages are the answer to these problems.
A barrage, is a kind of wall, which blocks the flow of water. It has gates, through which the water is allowed to pass in a limited quantity. Its aim is to control the flow of water in the flood season and store it in such a manner that the canals can get water throughout the year. In this way, farmers can be given water for their fields, according to their needs. Life and property can also be protected from the floods by control ling the flow of water. This system has been adopted and is being used all over the world.
The Guddu barrage is one of the many barrages built in Pakistan. It is built on the river Indus which flows almost the whole lenth of Pakistan.
The Guddu barrage, is bulit at a place where the river is fourteen kilometers in width. It is designed to force the water-spread over fourteen kilometers to pass through a narrow barrage of about a kilometer. The barrage is 1355 meters in length. It is made in such a way that a flood of about 1.2 million cusecs can pass through it. The 7 meters wide road bridge over the barrage has reduced the road distance between Lahore and Quetta. The distance, between Rhimyar Khan and Kashmore has almost been halved.
It has a system of three main canals, two on the right bank and one, on the left. The Begari Sindh Feeder and the Desert Pat Feeder, are on the right bank and the Ghotki Feeder on the left bank. They are among the biggest feeder canals of the world. The barrage is meant to irrigate an area of 2.7 million acres. Most of this area lies in the Sukkur and Jacobabad districts of Sindh and the rest in the Kalat division of Baluchistan province. The grain output of this area is expected to rise by half a million tons.
The Guddu barrage is one of the biggest barrages of Pakistan. It has also been the most difficult to complete. More than 5,000 engineers, technicians and labourers worked day and night to complete it. It was put into operation on 4th February, 1962.
The barrage has tamed the river and put an end to the damage caused by floods in this area.
