Image of the Tarbela Dam from space.

Tarbela Dam (Urdu: تربیلا بند ) is a large dam on the Indus River in Pakistan. Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and It is located about 50 kilometers northwest of Islamabad, and a height of 485 ft (148 m) above the river bed and a reservoir size of 95 square miles (250 km²) makes it the largest earth filled dam in the world. |name = Islamabad|native_name = |nickname = |settlement_type = Capital City |total_type The dam was completed in 1974 and was designed to store water from the Indus River for irrigation and flood control, and for the generation of hydro-electric power. The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water |==History== The Tarbela Dam is a major source of Pakistan's total hydroelectric capacity. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water It is part of the Indus Basin Project which resulted from a water treaty^[1] signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan guaranteeing Pakistan water supplies independent of upstream control by India. The Indus Basin Project is a water control project that resulted from a treaty Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 that guaranteed India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and The project was funded by the World Bank. The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e Construction began in 1968, and continued until completion in 1976. The dam has a volume of 138,600,000 cubic yards (106,000,000 m³). With a reservoir capacity of 11,098,000 acre-feet (13. 69 km³), the dam is approximately 143 m high and 8,997 feet (2,743 m) wide at its crest. It helps to maintain the flow of the Indus during seasonal fluctuations. The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd ^[2]

A new, smaller hydro-electric power project has been developed downstream known as the Ghazi Barotha Hydel Power Project. The Ghazi Barotha Dam (غازى بروتھا بند is NOT a dam but a 'run of the river' project It is solely for generating electricity and has a water channel with the highest flow in the world.

While the dam has fulfilled its purpose in storing water for agricultural use in Pakistan, there have been environmental consequences to the Indus river delta. Reduction of seasonal flooding and reduced water flows to the delta have decreased mangrove stands and the abundance of some fish species.

Tarbela is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains. It is divided in different colonies like Sobra City, Right Bank Colony, Sanobar Colony and Mehran Colony. Many of the residents are employees of the Water And Power Development Authority (WAPDA) of Pakistan.

Life Span

Because the source of the Indus River is the monsoonal rainfall over the Himalayas, the river carries huge amounts of sediment. The annual suspended sediment load is about 430 million tonnes per year. This means that, over time, the reservoir will fill with sand and will overflow, causing a huge flood as the river is released. The useful efficiency of the dam and reservoir are estimated to be somewhere around fifty years, since the dam's completion in 1976, meaning that the reservoir will be full of sediment within 20 years.

Sedimentation however, has been much lower than predcted due to the Tarbela Reservoir and it is now estimated that the useful life-span of the dam will be 85 years^[3]

Notes

1. ^ http://www.waterinfo.net.pk/pdf/iwt.pdf treaty detail
2. ^ Tarbela Dam in the Structurae database. Structurae is an online Database containing works of structural and Civil engineering of all kinds such as Bridges High-rise buildings Retrieved on 2007-07-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
3. ^ Lorrai, C and Pasche, N. 'Tarbela Dam-Case Study' Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich: April 2007