PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has made a significant advancement in water management by installing Indus Telemetry, an innovative system designed for real-time data acquisition of water flow in canals.
The Indus Telemetry system, a sophisticated technological solution, automates the process of monitoring water flow, providing a significant upgrade to the province’s water management capabilities. This initiative, implemented by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) under the USAID Water Management for Enhanced Productivity activity, sets a new standard for water management in Pakistan.
A ceremony to officially hand over the technology to the K-P irrigation department will be held on June 12. This new system promises to revolutionize water monitoring, management, and reporting across K-P’s essential irrigation canals.
K-P is the first province in Pakistan to deploy this advanced telemetry system across its main canals. The system ensures accurate, reliable, and validated data collection. Real-time information on water flow can now be accessed by the irrigation department, facilitating better water management.
The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) is the technical partner for this project. Indus Telemetry comprises both hardware and software components, with automatic sensors strategically placed along canals to measure water flow depth and velocity. This data is transmitted via GSM technology to a secure cloud server, processed, and archived. Stakeholders can access real-time data and reports through an intuitive online dashboard.
The system is currently operational at 11 major canals in K-P, including Upper Swat Canal, Tanda Irrigation Main Canal, Pehur High Level Canal, Warsak Gravity Canal, Lower Siran Canal, Kabul River Canal, Warsak Left Bank Canal, Pehur Main Canal, Lower Swat Canal, Warsak Lift Feeder Canal, Gomal Zam Main Canal, and Khanpur Dam Left Bank Canal. These canals are crucial for K-P’s water distribution from the Indus River, with sensors placed at strategic points to measure the total volume of water diverted over time.
The implementation of Indus Telemetry represents a significant milestone for water management in Pakistan, addressing the long-standing need for transparent and accountable water management as emphasized in the National Water Policy 2018. Prior to this, the K-P irrigation department relied on outdated and error-prone methods for monitoring water flow. The new system allows for precise volumetric accounting of water withdrawals, essential for managing water resources during different crop seasons.
