CHASHMA BARRAGE MIANWALI: POWER GENERATOR

Located in Mianwali Districts near Kundian, Punjab, Pakistan, Chashma is situated on the left bank of the Indus River. Chashma is famous for the Chashma Barrage. A barrage on the River Indus in Mianwali Districts of Punjab, Pakistan, Chashma Barrage is located 304 kilometers North-West of Lahore and 56 kilometers downstream on Jinnah Barrage. Chashma Barrage Works contract was awarded to French Consortium Societe Dumez and Societe Borie on 10^th of February,1967. It was completed by 25^th March 1971.

The total cost of Chashma Barrage Works is estimated to be 399 Million Pakistani Rupees. The power generation at Chashma Barrage started in the year 2001. Chashma Barrage is used for different purposes including irrigation, flood control, and power generation. A small storage reservoir is also provided at the barrage to re-regulate the supplies of the Tarbela reservoir. Chashma Barrage has an installed capacity of 184MW station from eight Kaplan type bulb turbine units, each having a capacity of 23 MW. The bulb turbines at Chashma Barrage are installed for the first time in Pakistan. The first unit of Chashma Barrage was authorized in January 2001 while the final commissioning of all the units was completed in July 2001. The Kaplan type bulb turbines were made in Fuji, Japan.

Some of the hotels near Chashma Barrage are Al-Abbas Hotel, Hotel Shahzad, and Restaurant and Qaiser Hotel. Chashma Barrage has immense importance due to its water diversion from the Indus River to the proliferating lands of Pakistan. Chashma Barrage is responsible for major power generation and fulfilling the irrigation needs of Pakistan.