LAHORE: The Irrigation Department says the Muzaffargarh Canal is being operated according to its designed discharge and there is not heavy build-up of silt in it.

A spokesperson for the department claimed on Tuesday the canal was currently being operated at 8,700 cusecs. During the medium flood in the Indus this season at Taunsa Barrage, both DG Khan Canal and Muzaffargarh Canal were closed from Aug 4 to 9 to prevent the silt entry into their systems.

Taunsa Barrage, like all other barrages under the Irrigation Department, had a soil sedimentation laboratory which checked silt levels in the canal water twice a day and if the sedimentation level reached the critical level the canal got closed readily, he stated.

He claimed there was no issue of irrigation water shortage even at the tail reaches of the system in Alipur and Muzaffargarh tehsils.