WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL AREA OF

TEHSIL ISAKHEL, DISTRICT MIANWALI

SYNDICATE REPORT
GROUP-G

Brief History

There is a vast tract of irrigable land lying between foot hills & right bank of the River
Indus in Tehsil Isa Khel of District Mianwali. The whole of the area is barani except a
small tract on the left bank of the River Kurram which is getting irrigation through a
seasonal canal known as Kas Umar Khan since Year 1878.

Kas Umar Khan is an old inundation canal which off takes from left bank of River
Kurram downstream of Railway Bridge at Dara Tang and irrigates a part of the project
area during Rabi season. Initial capacity of Kas Umar Khan Canal System was 64
cusecs. It was built as private inundation canal and taken over by the Civil
Administration of the Government of Punjab in 1906 to improve its working. The control
of the canal was transferred to Punjab Irrigation and Power Department on 10-04-1986.
The capacity of the canal was raised to 90 cusecs during September 1986 to meet the
water requirement of Afghan Refugees camps located in the project area. The canal
takes off at a distance of about 1200 feet downstream of Dara Tung Railway Bridge.

Salient Features of the existing Kas Umar Khan Canal are summarized below:

Name of Discharge
Length in ft CCA(Acre)
Canal Capacity (cfs)
Main Canal 90 23+440
KasTinga 22 17+710
6000
KasKhawanee
44 42+080
n
The present canal system was designed only for a CCA of 7,642 acres of which an area
of about 6,000 acres is being irrigated through this canal system. All this irrigation is
taking place in Rabi season while in Kharif there is no significant irrigated agriculture
due to non-availability of assured supply from the river. Pakistan’s Indus Basin Irrigation
System provides the key water resources for the Pakistan economy.

At present Kas Umar Khan Canal is fed by diverting water of Kurram River, downstream
of rail-cum-road bridge at Dara Tung into a feeding channel with the help of small
earthen bunds (called Borias) constructed in the river bed parallel to flow direction. The
feeding channel runs in the river bed and takes water about 1200 ft. downstream to a
masonry regulator at the head of the canal where excess supply is returned to the river
through an escape channel. The tendency of the river in this reach is such that as the
discharge falls, heavy silt is deposited at the mouth of the canal head regulator which
has to be removed regularly. The earthen bund or Salee structure is washed away by
floods in summer every year and the feeding channel gets choked with silt due to which
very little irrigation is done during kharif. Since the arrangements to feed the canal were
unsatisfactory, various studies were carried out for the sustenance of existing irrigation
and extending the facility to the full CCA but no solution could be found technically
sound & economically viable. In 2015-16, water availability study was completed by the
ACE Consultants which indicated 200 to 500 cfs discharge is available at this site to
develop the Irrigation System. So a need has again been felt to update previous
Feasibility study of 1998 for providing as much of secured river water supply as possible
for irrigation of the area in Tehsil Isa Khal to boost up development for the welfare and
prosperity of the Local people.

Location of Project Area

The command area lies between longitude 71.0 0 and 71.50 East and latitude 32.5 0 and
33.00North; and completely falls within the boundaries of Tehsil Isa Khel District
Mianwali. The area is bounded by Indus River on the East, Kurram River on the south
and low hills on the western side up to KamarMashani Town.

Physical Features of Project Area

The natural surface levels in the Project area ranges between 650 to 1050 feet above
mean sea level from its eastern to western boundary. The land within the project
areaslopes in the south eastern direction in the upper northern part, and towards
eastern direction in the southern half of the project. The land slopes near the foot hills
are quite steep but systematically become flatter as the area approaches the Indus
River where the slopes are around 4 to 5 feet per mile. The arable flat areas ofrather
gentle slopes constitutes about 80 percent of the project gross area.
The Project area has a typical morphology resulting from the regional structure.
Extensive deposits lie between the escarpment of the mountainous ranges close to the
western boundary of the project area and the Indus Active Flood Plain. The soils located
in the areas at higher elevations towards western part of the project are of coarse and
moderately coarse materials which are seamed and dissected by hill torrents. In the low
lying belt along the eastern boundary of the project, soils of fine textured material are
predominant. Nullahs passing over this lower plain in the past have left on its surface
several narrow belts of grey brown sand. The southern part of the project area between
the main highway and the western boundary is extensively covered with rolling sand
plains with numerous shallow drainage washes. A triangular shaped flat land enclosed
by the Indus and Kurram rivers at their junction is occupied by soils of medium to fined
textured material. Some pockets of silty clay soils have also been identified in this part
of the project.