Irrigation - WordPress.com · the irrigation results in flooding or near flooding of the cultivated land. Localized irrigation is a system where water is distributed under low pressure

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IRRIGATIONIRRIGATIONIRRIGATIONIRRIGATIONIRRIGATION

Chronicle IAS Academy [1]

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CHRONICLEIAS ACADEMYA CIVIL SERVICES CHRONICLE INITIATIVEIRRIGATION

India, with a geographical area of 3.3 millionsquare kilometres (Km2), experiences extremesof climate.

Annual average rainfall in the country is ofthe order of 1170 mm, which is equivalent tonearly 4000 cubic Km of water. However, therainfall varies from 100 mm in WesternRajasthan to over 8000 mm at Cherrapunji inMeghalaya, considered wettest spot on earth. Soirrigation is essential for the growth of agriculturewhich in turn can lead to socio-economicdevelopment.

Direct positive impacts of irrigation include:

1. Increased agricultural production:

• Increased crop productivity• Expansion in crop areas• Increase in cropping intensity• Increase in crop diversification

2. Increased commercial fish production (in-land fisheries).

3. Increased benefits of water use inindustrial, commercial and residentialsectors—from raw water provided throughirrigation infrastructure or fromgroundwater.

4. Increased environmental benefits of waterfor in-stream flows, disposal of waste,wildlife, flora and fauna; increased farmforestry and vegetation in irrigated areas.

5. Increased health benefits—improvedsanitation due to better access to water.

6. Increased benefits from flood control.

7. Increased benefits from water use for ruraldomestic and livestock purposes.

8. Increased groundwater recharge; reductionin opportunity costs of water uses.

9. Increased recreation from water bodies,sight seeing, fishing.

10. Increased employment in agriculture dueto increased cropping intensity, increasedcrop area and output from irrigation.

11. Increased employment outside agriculturefrom increased crop output in relatedindustries such as input industry (backwardlinkages) and output processing industries(forward linkages).

12. Positive impact on poverty reductionthrough increased productivity andincreased employment opportunities.

13. Increased food security at national, regionaland local levels.

14. Lower food prices for consumers, due toproductivity gains and increased overallfood supplies.

15. Improved nutrition, improved calorie intakeand improved health.

IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

Various types of irrigation techniques differin how the water obtained from the source isdistributed within the field. In general, the goalis to supply the entire field uniformly with water,so that each plant has the amount of water itneeds, neither too much nor too little.

Basically there are two types of irrigation-"surface and localised". In surface irrigationsystems water moves over and across the landby simple gravity flow in order to wet it and topenetrate into the soil. Surface irrigation can besubdivided into furrow, border strip or basinirrigation. It is often called flood irrigation whenthe irrigation results in flooding or near floodingof the cultivated land.

Localized irrigation is a system where wateris distributed under low pressure through a pipednetwork, in a pre-determined pattern, andapplied as a small discharge to each plant oradjacent to it. Drip irrigation, spray or micro-sprinkler irrigation and bubbler irrigation belongto this category of irrigation methods. In dripirrigation, water is delivered at or near the zoneof plants, drop by drop. This method can be themost water-efficient method of irrigation, ifmanaged properly, since evaporation and runoffare minimized. In sprinkler or overheadirrigation, water is piped to one or more centrallocations within the field and distributed byoverhead high-pressure sprinklers or guns.

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Irrigation projects with a CulturableCommand Area (CCA) between 2,000 and10,000 hectares are classified as medium projectsand those with CCA of more than 10,000hectares as major projects.

A) GROUNDWATER IRRIGATION SYSTEM:

Groundwater has rapidly emerged to occupya dominant place in India’s agriculture and foodsecurity in recent years. It has become the mainsource of growth in irrigated area over the past3 decades, and it now accounts for over 60percent of the irrigated area in the country. It isestimated that now over 70 percent of India’sfood grain production comes from irrigatedagriculture, in which groundwater plays a majorrole.

The behaviour of ground water in the Indiansub-continent is highly complicated due to theoccurrence of diversified geological formationswith considerable lithological and chronologicalvariations, complex tectonic framework,climatological dissimilarities and various hydro-chemical conditions. Studies carried out over theyears have revealed that aquifer groups inalluvial / soft rocks even transcend the surfacebasin boundaries. Broadly two groups of rockformations have been identified depending oncharacteristically different hydraulics of groundwater, viz. Porous formations and Fissuredformations.

I. Porous Formations :

Porous formations have been furthersubdivided into Unconsolidated and Semi –consolidated formations:

a) Unconsolidated Formations

The areas covered by alluvial sediments ofriver basins, coastal and deltaic tracts constitutethe unconsolidated formations. These are by farthe most significant ground water reservoirs forlarge scale and extensive development. Thehydrogeological environment and ground waterregime conditions in the Indo-Ganga-Brahmaputra basin indicate the existence ofpotential aquifers having enormous fresh groundwater resources. Bestowed with high incidenceof rainfall and covered by a thick pile of poroussediments, these ground water reservoirs getreplenished every year and are being usedheavily. In these areas, in addition to the annual

replenishable ground water resources availablein the zone of Water Level Fluctuation ( dynamicground water resource), there exists a hugeground water reserve in the deeper passiverecharge zone below the zone of fluctuation aswell as in the deeper confined aquifers which isnearly unexplored. Although the mode ofdevelopment of ground water is primarilythrough dug wells, dug cum borewell and cavitywells, thousands of tube wells have beenconstructed during last few decades.

b) Semi-Consolidated Formations:

The semi-consolidated formations normallyoccur in narrow valleys or structurally faultedbasins. The Gondwanas, Lathis, Tipams,Cuddalore sandstones and their equivalents arethe most extensive productive aquifers. Underfavourable situations, these formations give riseto free flowing wells. In select tracts ofnortheastern India, these water-bearingformations are quite productive. The UpperGondwanas, which are generally arenaceous,constitute prolific aquifers.

II. Fissured Formations (ConsolidatedFormations)

The consolidated formations occupy almosttwo-third of the country. The consolidatedformations, except vesicular volcanic rocks, havenegligible primary porosity. From thehydrogeological point of view, fissured rocks arebroadly classified into four types viz. Igneous andmetamorphic rocks excluding volcanic andcarbonate rocks, Volcanic rocks, Consolidatedsedimentary rocks and Carbonate rocks.

a) Igneous and Metamorphic RocksExcluding Volcanic and Carbonate Rocks

The most common rock types are granites,gneisses, charnockites, khondalites, quartzites,schists and associated phyllites, slates, etc. Theserocks possess negligible primary porosity butdevelop secondary porosity and permeabilitydue to fracturing and weathering. Ground wateryield also depends on rock type and possibly onthe grade of metamorphism.

b) Volcanic Rocks

The predominant types of the volcanic rocksare the basaltic lava flows of Deccan Plateau.The contrasting water bearing properties ofdifferent flow units controls ground water


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occurrence in Deccan Traps. The Deccan Trapshave usually poor to moderate permeabilitiesdepending on the presence of primary andsecondary pore spaces.

c) Consolidated Sedimentary Rocksexcluding Carbonate rocks:

Consolidated sedimentary rocks occur inCuddapahs, Vindhyans and their equivalents.The formations consist of conglomerates,sandstones, shales, slates and quartzites. Thepresence of bedding planes, joints, contact zones and fractures control the ground wateroccurrence, movement and yield potential.

d) Carbonate Rocks

Limestones in the Cuddapah, Vindhyan andBijawar group of rocks are the important carbonate rocks other than marbles anddolomites. In carbonate rocks, the circulation ofwater creates solution cavities, therebyincreasing the permeability of the aquifers. Thesolution activity leads to widely contrastingpermeabilities within short distances.

Growth of groundwater irrigation in India:

For the net irigated area of about 29.75 mhabetween 1970 & 2007 groundwater accountedfor 24.02 mha. The share of groundwaterirrigation through wells has risen from 28 percentto 62 percent. The main contribution has comefrom rapid growth in tubewell irrigation.

The green revolution was a major force inthis growth. Beginning in the mid-1960s, thegreen revolution was a major turning point inIndia’s agriculture. The adoption of new seedsand fertilizers provided great benefits and thebenefits were the best under irrigation. Largeinvestments had been undertaken in surfacewater projects to provide irrigation water tolarger number of farmers. A number of othersignificant changes also took place in the late 60’sand 70’s. Electricity supply expanded in ruralareas making pumping of groundwater easy andeconomical. New modular well and pumpingtechnologies became widely available. In thesurface irrigated and flood-prone areas, water-logging and/or salinity were problems, and itwas realized that encouragement ofgroundwater pumping provided an effectivemechanism for lowering the groundwater table

and reducing the severity of the problems.Farmers realized that groundwater wasabundant in many areas, especially in the largealluvial basins. The reach of institutional creditexpanded making credit more widely available.Farmers realized they could develop and applywater ‘just in time’ from groundwater sources,something which was not possible in theinstitutionally-complex and poorly managedcanal systems.

Cheap and un-metered electricity, slowdevelopment of surface irrigation, and poormanagement of canal systems furtherencouraged groundwater development. Overthe last two decades, 84 percent of the totaladdition to net irrigated area came fromgroundwater, and only 16 percent from canals.Thus, at present the net area irrigated by privatetubewells is about double the area irrigated bycanals. In the early phase of groundwaterdevelopment in the 1950s, after independence,the groundwater extraction was dominated bytraditional dug wells with depths generally notexceeding 30 feet. Labour or animal devices suchas Persian wheels were often used to lift thewater, constituting over 60 percent of theirrigation devices. Frequently, there wasconjunctive use and hydrological nexus betweenwell irrigation and tank irrigation. With this andthe crop choice, the balance between demandand supply of water could be maintained exceptduring years of very low rainfall, and therefore,water use was generally sustainable.

The second phase starting in the 70s sawconsiderable growth of dug-cum-bore wells. Thedepth of the wells increased to about 50 to 100feet and the use of centrifugal pumps becamecommon. More water could be lifted leading toincrease in irrigated area and growing of cropswith greater water requirement. With the easyavailability of institutional credit for theconstruction of wells in the mid 1970s , thenumber of wells increased substantially by late1970. On the other hand, most of the tanksbecame unusable for irrigation due to poormaintenance and this resulted in even greaterdependence on groundwater.

During the third phase beginning from mid-1980s, the extraction technology startedchanging towards submersible pumps and thedepth of wells increased to beyond 400 feet inmany areas. Water extraction increased rapidly,under the influence of subsidies on electricity,


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lack of metering, credit availability, and thecommercialization of agriculture . This led torapid decline in the water table, decline in thequality of water, increased frequency of wellfailure and rapidly rising costs of well investmentand operation. This expansion of groundwateruse has resulted in a speedy decline in thegroundwater table in several parts of thecountry. In arid regions such as Rajasthan andGujarat, ingress of naturally occurring brackishgroundwater has become a matter of greatconcern. According to IWMI, the withdrawalrate in India is twice the recharge rate. Thus,even though groundwater is a powerful tool forpoverty reduction, developing and managingthis resource in a sustainable way is tremendouschallenge. Attempts to regulate groundwaterthrough restrictions on credit and electricconnections has had very little effect.

Advantages of ground irrigation system:

a) Well irrigation leads to higher cropproduction, higher cropping intensity,higher cash input expenditure and highergross income per acre.

b) Groundwater offers reliability and controlof water in irrigation. Experiments else-where indicated that water control alonecan bridge the gap between potential andactual yields by about 20 per cent. In Spain,irrigation uses 80 per cent of all water and20 per cent of that water comes fromunderground. But the 20 per cent producesmore than 40 per cent of the cumulativeeconomic value of Spanish crops.

c) Explosive growth in shallow tube wells andsmall pumps has democratized Indianirrigation. The booming pump irrigationeconomy has: [a] offered some irrigationaccess to an overwhelming majority, ratherthan concentrating all irrigation benefits onsmall privileged groups in command areas;[b] thereby, helped soften growing farmerunrest in the region’s vast dry-land areas,which would have otherwise destabilizedsocial and political structures; [c] has cometo account for over 60 percent of irrigatedareas, and 80 per cent of irrigated farmoutput and resultant incomes; [d] drought-proofed the region’s agriculture against atleast one monsoon failure and made large-scale famines history; [e] improved farmwages and increased demand for farmlabour year-round; [f] demonstrated a

strong pro-poor, inclusive bias in irrigatedagriculture; [g] supported a new drivetowards intensive diversification to highvalue products such as milk, fruit andvegetables, especially in dry land areas ina scale-neutral format.

Contemporary issues related to it:

Extraction of groundwater in excess of itsreplenishment is a serious problem and leads tosignificant decline in the groundwater table. InPunjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, the incidenceof over-exploitation is very high and the situationis becoming critical.

A major problem of water table depletion isthe deterioration in quality which has a largeimpact on the health of large sections of thepopulation which heavily depends ongroundwater. In Gujarat, groundwater providesmost domestic and more than three-quarter ofthe irrigation water. Over-extraction has causedthe water table to fall by as much as 40 to 60metres in many places, the yield of wells hasdecreased, cost of water pumping has increased,and in many cases wells are being abandoned.Groundwater mining in Gujarat and Rajasthanhas resulted in fluoride contaminationparticularly endangering the poor in these areas.

There is a distinction between economicdepletion (that is, falling water levels makefurther extraction uneconomic) and the actualdewatering of the aquifers. Aquifers are depletedin an economic sense long before there is anyreal threat of their being dewatered. TheGangetic basin may have 20,000 feet of saturatedsediment but from an agricultural perspectiveonly the top few hundred feet are economicallyaccessible for irrigation. Particularly, wellsowned by small/marginal farmers are oftenshallow—only a few tens of feet deep. Puttingthis in the context of poverty and famine, fallingwater tables will first exclude the poor—thosewho cannot afford the cost of deepening wells.This may happen long before they affect theavailability of water to wealthy farmers andother affluent users.

The impact of this would tend to beparticularly pronounced during drought periodswhen a large number of small/marginal farmerscould simultaneously lose access to ground-water when their wells dry up. During non-drought periods, water-level declines wouldundermine the economic position of small/


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marginal farmers forcing them onto alreadysaturated unskilled agricultural and urbanlabour markets. The food security crisis in boththese situations may be through the economicroute rather than because of food grainavailability perse. A region where one of the mostextensive over-extraction of groundwater hastaken place in the country is north Gujarat. Tubewell depths have often crossed 1,000 feet in thisarea. Cooperatives and partnerships of farmersexist and these do make an assessment of thequantity of water available and do contribute tomore equitable distribution of the water amongmembers. However, no attempt has been madeto price the water according to its scarcity valueand use. The members are aware that the activityof the institution is depleting groundwater in thevillage, but no effort is made by the institutionsto monitor or control the depletion andenvironmental harm. Equity is being looked atbut scarcity and environmental harm/depletionare not being addressed.

Problems of water quality are emerging evenin areas, such as the water-rich Krishna delta inAndhra Pradesh, a highly productive areaknown for its high crop yields. Due to insufficientsupply of canal water, farmers’ dependence ongroundwater for irrigating crops has increasedmanifold during the last decade. The existinggroundwater salinity problem has worsened asa result of unplanned groundwater developmentand extraction. An in-depth analysis of thehydro-geologic conditions was done through atwo-dimensional cross-sectional model, and thesimulations showed that the increase ingroundwater salinity in the region (except closeto the coast) was not due to saltwater intrusionfrom the sea but because of saline water intrusionfrom existing saline zones into freshwater zones,because of groundwater extraction.

Thus there is an urgent need to tackle overexploitation of groundwater in the country. Themeasures may range in nature from informal toformal, individual to institutional/legal, andvoluntary to compulsory.

At an informal level, awareness aboutgroundwater over-exploitation and itsconsequences needs to be greatly increasedthrough extension and publicity campaigns.Groups or associations of farmers may be formedto monitor and manage groundwater. Thesemay be built over existing water users groups/associations/cooperatives or farmer bodies of

other kinds. A government department initiativeto measure the groundwater level/situation(already existing in some areas) on a monthly orquarterly basis extensively across blocks/villagesis required along with reporting anddissemination of this information through theabove mentioned means and bodies. Sinceelectric pumps are extensively used to pump thewater, controlling the availability of electricitysupply for operating pumps can go a long wayin reducing over exploitation. This has beensuccessfully tried in parts of Gujarat. Meteringand charging of electricity at the real economicprice also needs to be implemented.

Other direct measures would includerestricting the number of tube-wells throughlicensing or through imposing institutional creditrestrictions. Pumping of water can also berestricted through installation of water meterson tube-wells as done in many developedcountries. Overall, new legislation is required tocontrol groundwater exploitation, and aconstitutional amendment separating the rightto groundwater from the right to land wouldhelp provide the necessary foundation forstronger laws and institutional controls. Sinceagriculture is the largest user of water,accounting for over 80 per cent of the water use,improvement in the efficiency of water use inagriculture can go a long way in alleviating thesupply-demand imbalance and tackling the overexploitation of groundwater. Frequent floodingof fields to irrigate is extremely inefficientespecially when no proper assessment of the soilmoisture and the crop water need is done, andthe fields are poorly levelled. Promotion ofalternatives such as irrigation through furrows,drip irrigation, and sprinkler irrigation cangreatly improve water use efficiency and eventhese should be done after assessment of soilmoisture and critical stages of crop water needs.Good land levelling can also go a long way inreducing farm water needs. Other conservationmeasures such as mulching can also help. Tosignal the scarcity of water, formal and informalcontrols and proper pricing of water is a must.If water is expensive, farmers will use it moreefficiently. Pricing should be done by crop, andhigh water charges should be there for high waterusing crops such as sugarcane, rice and banana.Restrictions on the dates of planting for cropssuch as rice can also help, as has been done inPunjab. Avoiding the extremely hot weather inMay-June for planting rice can greatly reduce


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water need and improve water use efficiency.This would be helped by developing andrecommending the appropriate crop varieties.On these lines, the development of varietieswhich are drought resistant and have betterwater use efficiency would also helpsubstantially.

Institutional development such as the setting-up of elected and empowered water userassociations is extremely important to improvethe efficiency and equity in groundwatermanagement. However, the ability of suchinstitutions to implement control would besubstantially enhanced by the separation ofwater rights from land rights, and putting waterrights on a strong, separate and equitable basis.Apart from reducing over-exploitation,increasing the recharge of groundwater throughharvesting of rain and surface flows wouldprevent the dewatering of aquifers, and alsogreatly improve equity by making wateravailable in the wells affordable to small andmarginal farmers. Deteriorating quality of thegroundwater is another major problem and issubstantially related to over exploitation in manyareas—particularly with salinity, fluoride andother chemical toxicity problems which usuallyincrease with water depth. However, othercontaminations also need to be addressed.Regular testing of all sources of water which arebeing used for human consumption is a must inimproving awareness, alertness and control.Creating alternative sources of water is a mustwhere quality problems exist. As indicatedearlier, different approaches are required indifferent areas and so state governments andstate policies need to play a very important role.In Eastern India, for example, which is in theGangetic basin, there is a case for developmentof groundwater resources. Eastern India has thebulk of India’s poverty and is largely rural,agricultural, flood-prone, with a high populationdensity, and has had a slow pace ofgroundwater development. Increased density ofwells can increase the welfare of the peoplethrough irriggation as well as through thepowerful positive externality of working againstwater-logging and flood-proneness.

Research indicates that pumping out ofgroundwater for irrigation in the dry season cancreate substantial capacity in aquifers to storeflood and drainage water underground duringthe wet season, and this can mitigate floods byleading to as much as 50 per cent reduction in

the monsoon flow of rivers. Thus, groundwaterdevelopment can contribute to full realizationof the agricultural potential of the eastern regionand also be effective in reducing and preventingflood and water-logging conditions which aremajor threats in eastern India. However,safeguards are a must to foster planneddevelopment and prevent over-extraction.Legally, water is a state subject in India andgroundwater is under the private regime. Therights to groundwater belong to the landowner.The rights to groundwater are transferred toanyone to whom the land is transferred. Thereis no limitation on how much groundwater aparticular landowner can draw. This leads to aconcentration of water ownership with the landand capital owners in India and a lack of controlover the extraction of water. Legally separatingland and water rights would be a fundamentalstep in better managing groundwater.

B) TANK IRRIGATION

An irrigation tank is a small reservoirconstructed across the slope of a valley to catchand store water during rainy season and use itfor irrigation during dry season. Tank irrigationsystems also act as an alternative to pumpprojects, where energy availability, energy costor ground-water supplies are constraints forpumping. Tanks are often connected in a longchain where surplus water from one tank is ledto the next in a large drainage system. The tanksystem has four different functions in irrigatedagriculture: soil and water conservation, floodcontrol, drought mitigation and protection ofenvironment of surrounding areas. Likewise,development of tank irrigation has to undergothe four phases, namely, water acquisition orharvesting, storage, disposal of surplus water,distribution and management of water in thecommand area by an institution. The tankcomplex comprises the catchment area, thefeeder channel, tank bund, water spread area,sluice outlets, command area, field distributaries(water courses) and surplus weir.

However , despite these advantages the tank–irrigated area in India over the past two decadeshas tended to stagnate and fall. Siltation, neglectof maintenance, encroachment in tank bed andcatchment area, and reliance on ground waterare some of the immediate reasons for the rapidlydecreasing area irrigated by tanks. Otherimportant factors include an inappropriatedivision of labour between numerous different


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government bodies each in charge of a separatepart of the tank system, the political indifferencewith respect to tank irrigation compared to canaland ground water irrigation, changing croppingpatterns as a consequence of increasingpreferences for cash crops, increasing numbersof absentee land-lords, and possibly the changingsocial configuration of many rural communities.

Contemporary issues related to it:

Mostly tanks are reported to be functioningonly in normal and excess rainfall years and notso in poor and low rainfall years. Theconsequences are: many farmers have startedabandoning tank agriculture due its continuousuncertainties in water supplies and moving tothe nearby towns for other jobs and only theolder people are staying back in the tank villages.The lands are not maintained properly and theprosopis trees are growing freely in the cultivatedlands thus making the lands unsuitable forcultivation during the years when the tank hasadequate water. Due to the decliningcommitment on the maintenance of the tankstructures, the upkeep of the structures is a costlyaffair for the farmers when they really want touse the tank for irrigation during normal supplyperiods.

Disappearance of the supply channels is verycommon. House construction works due topopulation increase and village developmentactivities such as roads, schools, buildings areconcentrated in the government poramboke(common) lands which are the main source ofinflow to the tanks as well as interlinking thetanks in the chain. This is one of the reasons whytanks are not getting adequate storages eventhough the rainfall is normal.

The traditional village institutions likeneedkatti or madayan thotti who looked afterthe tank catchment and tank structures andfacilitated the inflows into the tanks regularlyduring rainy seasons also disappeared, as theycould not be paid by the farmers due to frequenttank failures.

The growing nexus between castes andpolitics among the younger generation in thevillage also played their role in making thetraditional leaders in the village ( who lookedafter the tank management) inactive. Severalregional political parties are coming up and sincethe voting percentage is higher in the villages,these parties concentrate on the rural villages fortheir benefits and in the process, the households

are divided among the political and caste relatedgroups.

Thus the improvement of tank irrigationefficiency for all tank sizes would require morebalanced integration of farmers’ involvement.,government commitment and participation inactivities such as control of water distribution,maintenance and repair, revenue collection andmanagement of the tank and the tank bed aswell as of the catchment area.

Since the first five year plan, all the five yearplans investments gave much importance forCanal Irrigation and Well Irrigation sectors. Butthe incidence of poverty in the country is highamong the small and marginal farmers whodepend on dryland and tankfed agriculture,where there is much scope for the development.Hence there is a strong need for the governmentto reorient its investment pattern towards them.The solution therefore has to come up withspecific area development approach forcombining both the tankfed and rainfedagriculture. In south Indian context, Tank basedwatershed development undertaken oncontiguous basis in a sub basin level will belooked as a potential area for investment. Thisshould be combined with grant and long termloan based investment.

The solution package varies with respect toarea and context. Even though the country isdivided into many agro-climatic regions, theschemes so far implemented by the governmentwere taken up with common approach. Forinstance, the coastal and tribal context needdifferent solutions compared to conventionalrural, semi-urban contexts. Coastal agricultureis the which term never got attraction amongthe Scientists. India having the longest coastlinein South Asia has got great opportunity to investon promoting coastal agriculture with salttolerant varieties of crops and also revitalize themangrove plantation. This in turn wouldminimize the exploitation of sea based bio-diversity by inland farmers as the wage labourersgoing for fishing. Tribal areas in the Country areendowed with great amount of natural resourceswith lesser utilization. This is because of highlevel of illiteracy and reluctance of governmentmachineries and schemes reaching them. Thereis a huge exploitation of tribals by the traders inmarketing the minor forest produce andpurchasing the fertile lands at cheaper prices.


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The role of NGOs and VoluntaryOrganisations have to be integrated as an integralpart of facilitating these supporting mechanismsto the farmers with the agencies concerned andworking on developing successful models fordifferent contexts.

The agriculture extension services is the mostimportant component for achieving the objective.Yet, the present agricultural extension servicesof the government remain either inadequate orineffective. Therefore the government must lookinto promotion of effective extension services byinvolving People, NGOs, AgriculturalUniversities / Research Stations and Media. It iswell known that the All India Radio played animportant role in the first green revolution. Sothe following action must be taken:

• Mainstream Farm Field Schools Conceptand create a demand system amongfarmers to pay for the services.

• Operating an exclusive TelevisionChannel for disseminating theagricultural technology and servicesoffered by the government agencies tofarmers.

• Establishing Plant Clinics at appropriateplaces for providing timely advice to theneedy farmers.

• Information Technology through VillageResource Centres or Internet Kiosks canplay a key role in disseminating the bestpractices, counselling with agriculturalexperts, traders and other relevantfarmers.

A CASE STUDY

DHAN Foundation has initiated a waterthematic programme as a small pilot in Maduraidistrict viz. Vayalagam Tankfed AgricultureDevelopment Programme way back during 1992with aim of stake building of people over theprecious traditional water commons viz. tanksand ponds located in varied ecosystems bypromoting social capital and communityinvestments for revitalizing the irrigation assets.In its two decades of evolution, a communitygoverned institutional framework was evolvedand ensured sustainable food securityinterventions based on the community needsunder a development branding “ Vayalagam”.

The programme has a number of componentsthat are necessary to ensure that the interventionsare sustainable in the long term. The measuresthat are proposed in rehabilitation/revitalizationof tanks comprise improvements not only to thephysical works but also the software aspects likeoperation, maintenance and management ofwater resources. They comprise the following:

Prioritization of Tanks for Rehabilitation

The tank irrigation systems taken up forrehabilitation are spread over the four states ofSouth India viz. Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka and Pondicherry and the two statesof East India Orissa and Bihar. The tanks /Ahar-pynes are selected based on the scope forworking with the marginal communities whoselivelihoods and food security dependent entirelyon tankfed agriculture. The villages and tanksare identified in such a way that cascades oftanks are selected and all the tanks in eachcascade are improved in a phased manner basedon the following criteria:

• Willingness of farmers to invest a partof the project cost through labour and/or cash; while the landless willcontribute labour.

• Willingness of the community to ownthe assets and execute the worksthemselves without involving contractorsand maintain and manage the systemthereafter.

• Building equity by involving both womenand men in planning andimplementation of the programme.

Tank Institutions and their Roles:

DHAN Foundation facilitated a three tier systemof community participation—

1. Vayalagams (Tank Farmers Associations(TFAs)

• Enrolling the farmers having land andthe other interested groups in the villageunder the command area, as members.

• Planning and implementing developmentworks like tank rehabilitation, communitywell construction and on-farm development.

• Undertaking activities such aspisciculture, tree planting and brick


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making as a measure of generatingrevenue for the tank associations.

• Maintenance of tank systems and theirmanagement, including waterdistribution.

• Building up a corpus or endowment forthe tanks for maintaining and managingthe tanks through the revenue.

2. Tank Cascade Associations (TCAs)

• Formed with the Tank FarmersAssociations as members across thecascade.

• Undertaking the development workssuch as cleaning and excavation offeeder channels and repairs to diversionweirs/ regulators on feeder channels.

• Resolving conflicts among the TankFarmers’ Associations in water sharingand maintenance.

• Mobilising funds across villages for thebetterment of the tank irrigation systems.

• Providing improved services onagriculture and water management.

3. Tank Farmers Federations (TFFs)

• Formed with the Tank FarmersAssociations as members.

• Organising the tank farmers federationin the administrative district or blocklevel.

• Mobilising funds for the rehabilitationof tanks from various sources, includingthe District, State and Centralgovernment administrations.

• Organising training programmes on tankrelated aspects for the TFAs, TCAs.

• Monitoring the operation &maintenance of rehabilitated tanksystems and the performance of TFAsand TCAs.

Rehabilitation to Assure Food Security:

Tank rehabilitation includes not onlyrestoring the physical structures to theiroriginally designed standard, but moreimportantly, facilitating the proper maintenance,efficient water management and improvedcropping practices in a sustained manner.

Prioritisation of Works:

The people’s felt needs and priorities aregiven importance in formulating detailed work

plans and cost estimates, as the planning itself isdone with people’s involvement. The worksincluded in the tank rehabilitation follow anorder of priority, which the users perceive as mostimportant.

1. Acquisition of water

2. System restoration

3. Improvements to water use efficiency

3. Improvements to water use efficiency

4. Tankfed agriculture development

5. Micro finance activities (MFAs)

6. Endowment for TFAs

DHAN Foundation empowered the Communityownership building and stake by making themto invest around 20-30% cost of rehabilitationand the rest of the share was mobilized primarilyfrom the government through the schemes thatwere in vogue in different periods of time. Thefunding partners of DHAN Foundation also at-times supported investments in revitalizing thevillage water assets to demonstrate as an entrypoint programme to sensitize the stakeholdersto participate.

C) CANAL IRRIGATION:

An irrigation canal is a waterway built forthe purpose of carrying water from a source suchas a lake, river, or stream, to soil used for farmingor landscaping.

One of the difficulties with irrigation canalsis providing a reliable flow of water. When thecanal is directly connected to a water source likea lake or a river, the water supply is fairly reliable.Whereas, when an irrigation canal traverses agreat distance or must navigate changes inelevation, other strategies must be employed. It’scommon, for example, to build a reservoir to storewater for irrigation and to fill irrigation canalswith systems of dams and locks. Anothermethod is to dig canals alongside water supplysources and build dams or locks separating thetwo, opening them when water is needed in theirrigation canal and closing them afterwards.

There are various advantages of canalirrigation. Most of the canal provide perennialirrigation and supply water as and whenneeded. This becomes important as in India therainfall is limited in both time and space. Besidesthis saves the crops from drought conditions andhelps in increasing the farm production.


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Maintenance cost of canals is relatively loweralthough the initial cost is high. Moreover canalscarry a lot of silts brought down by rivers. Thissediments is deposited in the field hence increasethe fertility of the land.

Canals though have great advantages butthey are not free from limitation as well. Waterlogging is an important problem associated withcanal. This leads to creation of unwantedmarshy lands hence reducing the cultivable area.Besides it also raise the chances of various typesof water borne diseases. Many canals causeflooding in the nearby areas. Canal irrigation isnot of much use for the undulating and sloppyareas. Besides their installation cost is muchhigher.

Contemporary issues related to canal irrigation:

Canal is an artificial channel for conveyingwater through lands that was perhaps naturallydevoid of sustained water flow. Hence, waterseeping from canals down to the soil below may,at times, raise the ground water very close tothe ground level. This may result in blocking allthe voids in the soil and obstructing the plantroots to breathe.

It has been observed that water loggingconditions adversely affects crop production asit is reduced drastically. Apart from seepagewater of canals, excessive and unplannedirrigation also caused water logging conditions.This happens because the farmers at the headreaches of canals draw undue share of canalwater in the false hope of producing largeragricultural outputs. Apart from ill aeration ofplants, other problems created by water loggingare as follows:

• Normal cultivation operations, such astilling, ploughing, etc. cannot be easilycarried out in wet soils. In extreme cases,the free water may rise above the groundlevel making agricultural operationsimpossible.

• Certain water loving plants like grasses,weeds, etc. grow profusely and luxuriantlyin water-logged lands, thus affecting andinterfering with the growth of the crops.

• Water logging also leads to a conditioncalled salinity, which is caused when thecapillary fringe of the elevated water tablerises within the root zone of plants. Sincethe roots of the plants continuously drawwater from this zone, there is a steady

upward movement of water which causesrise of salts, especially alkali salts, to comeup to the ground surface. This situation istermed as salinity.

In order to avoid water-logging condition tooccur for canal irrigation system, certain stepsmay be taken as follows:

• Canals and water courses may be lined.Also if possible, the full supply level ofcanal may be reduced.

• Intensity of irrigation may be reduced andfarmers advised to apply water judiciouslyto their fields and not over-irrigate.

• Provide an efficient drainage system todrain away excess irrigation water.

• Introduce more tube-wells for irrigationwhich shall lower the water table.

• Cropping pattern may be suitably modifiedsuch that only low water requiring cropsare planted instead of those requiring heavyirrigation.

• Natural drainage of the soil may beimproved such that less of excess surfacewater percolates and mostly drains offthrough natural drains.

When canal system consist of dams, theselarge dam projects cause irreversibleenvironmental changes over a wide geographicarea and thus have the potential for significantimpacts. Criticism of such projects has grown inthe last decade. Severe critics claim that becausebenefits from dams are outweighed by theirsocial, environmental and economic costs, theconstruction of large dams is unjustifiable. Insome cases, environmental and social costs canbe avoided or reduced to an acceptable level bycarefully assessing potential problems andimplementing cost-effective corrective measures.

Damming the river and creating a lake-likeenvironment profoundly changes the hydrologyof the river system. Dramatic changes occur inthe timing of flow, quality, quantity and use ofwater, aquatic biota, and sedimentation in theriver basin. The area of influence of a dam projectextends from the upper limits of the catchmentof the reservoir to as far downstream as theestuary, coast and offshore zone. While there aredirect environmental impacts associated with theconstruction of the dam (for example dust,erosion, borrow and disposal problems), the


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greatest impacts result from the impoundmentof water, flooding of land to form the reservoirand alteration of water flow downstream. Theseeffects have direct impacts on soils, vegetation,wildlife and wildlands, fisheries, climate andespecially the human populations in the area.

Increased pressure on upland areas above thedam is a common phenomenon caused by theresettlement of people from the inundated areasand by the uncontrolled influx of newcomers intothe basin catchment. On-site environmentaldeterioration as well as a decrease in waterquality and increase in sedimentation rates inthe reservoir result from clearing of forest landfor agriculture, grazing pressures, use ofagricultural chemicals, and tree cutting fortimber or fuelwood.

The impact of dams on flooding

The function of dams and reservoirs in floodcontrol is to reduce the peak flows entering aflood prone area. Rather than maintaining highwater levels for increased head or sustainedwater supply for irrigation, flood controloperation requires that water levels be keptdrawn down deliberately prior to and duringthe flood season in order to maintain the capacityto store any incoming floodwater. However,flood plains may be productive environmentsbecause flooding makes them so. Floodingrecharges soil moisture and replenishes the richalluvial soils with flood deposits of silt. In aridareas flooding may be the only source of naturalirrigation and soil enrichment. Reduction orelimination of flooding has the potential forimpoverishing flood recession cropping,groundwater recharge, natural vegetation,wildlife and livestock population in the floodplain which are adapted to the natural floodcycles.

To maintain the productivity level of thenatural systems, compensatory measures haveto be taken, such as fertilization or irrigation ofagricultural lands. In addition, whenchannelization measures reduce the frequencyof flooding, the sediments entering the riversystems from catchment areas upstream will bepassed to the mouth of the river unless overflowareas are present downstream. Channelmodification can result in a number of negativeenvironmental impacts. Any measure thatincreases the velocity of flow increases the erosivecapacity of the water. Although channelimprovement can alleviate flooding problems in

the treatment area, flood peaks are likely toincrease downstream, thus simply transferringthe problem elsewhere. Dikes built on the floodplain to exclude water from certain areas affectthe hydrology of the area, and can have impactson wildlife and livestock habitat and movement.

The impact of dams on fisheries and wildlife

Fishery alongside the rivers usually declinesdue to changes in river flow, deterioration ofwater quality, water temperature changes, lossof spawning grounds and barriers to fishmigration. A reservoir fishery, sometimes snoreproductive than the previous fishery alongsidethe river, however, is created.

In rivers with biologically productiveestuaries, both marine and estuarine fish andshellfish suffer from changes in water flow andquality. Changes in freshwater flows and thusthe salinity balance in an estuary will alter speciesdistribution and breeding patterns of fish.Changes in nutrient levels and a decrease in thequality of the river water can also have profoundimpacts on the productivity of an estuary. Thesechanges can also have major effects on marinespecies which feed or spend part of their life cyclein the estuary, or are influenced by water qualitychanges in the coastal areas.

The greatest impact on wildlife will comefrom loss of habitat resulting from reservoir fillingand land use changes in the catchment area.Migratory patterns of wildlife may be disruptedby the reservoir and associated developments.Aquatic fauna, including waterfowl,amphibians and reptiles can increase because ofthe reservoir.

There is a need for Conjunctive management,for example, when canal irrigation systemmanagers purposely direct surface waterdeliveries away from water-logged areas togroundwater depleted areas; or when theysuspend canal supplies during the rainy periodto provide irrigation during dry season; or whenthey use treated urban waste water tosupplement fresh canal or groundwatersupplies. In Gujarat state of western India, theGovernment has constructed a 600 km longspreading canal to use surplus flood waters fromKadana and Sardar Sarovar reservoirs in thesouth to recharge parched aquifers of NorthGujarat to counter groundwater depletion andreduce power subsidies to irrigation. This is agood example of conjunctive management ofsurface and groundwater.


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Conjunctive management is an importantopportunity for increasing irrigation efficiencyin India and may be the country’s best responseto runaway groundwater depletion, massivefarm-power subsidies, drought and dry spells,and water quality deterioration.

Sustained conjunctive management requires:

• high quality main system management insurface system.

• well-managed and regulated surface waterdistribution system.

• a profusion of groundwater wells incommand areas.

• stringent enforcement of appropriate rulesand norms for siting of groundwaterstructures.

• a main system operational protocol(irrigation scheduling; rules for gateoperation, real-time information andcommunication system, etc) that supportsoptimal conjunctive use.

• effective network in agricultural extension.

Examples of Conjunctive managements in India:

The Mahi Right Bank Canal System in centralGujarat is one example of conjunctive use bydefault. Commissioned in the 1970s, the canalirrigation system provided water to 250,000hectares of land that became waterlogged andfaced secondary salinization. Over the years,about 100,000 private tube wells wereconstructed and became the major source ofirrigation water in command areas . These tubewells now serve as vertical drains—excellentsubstitutes for capital-intensive lateral drainagesystem. Waterlogged areas shrunk andagriculture boomed in previously unproductiveregions. Irrigation efficiency, once defined ascubic meters/hectare of canal supplies was low;but when now measured as cubic meters/canaland groundwater irrigated area together, it isvery high.

The vast plains of Punjab offer the same story.Massive waterlogging and secondarysalinization in the 1950s and 60s have eased orbeen eliminated by private tube welldevelopment.

Down south in Tamilnadu, many canalirrigation systems have been over-extended somuch so that canal water supplies needed to berotated to different blocks of command areas. In

some systems, all canal water is supplied to halfa command area for a certain number of months;the other half uses well water while waiting forits turn to canal water privileges. In other systems,the entire canal network is run for a particularseason, with canal water deliveries confined toleft side in one year and on the right side thenext year.

The proliferation of tube wells in commandareas has made it possible for irrigation systemmanagers to distribute available surface suppliesover a much larger area than was earlier possible.Moreover, farmers value groundwater rechargefrom canal irrigation as much as—sometimeseven more than—direct irrigation benefit.

D) MODERN TECHNIQUES:

• Drip Irrigation

It is defined as the precise, slow applicationof water in the form of discrete or continuous ortiny streams of miniature sprays throughmechanical devices called emitters or applicatorslocated at selected points along water deliverylines.

It is also called trickle irrigation. Dripirrigation is adopted extensively in areas of acutewater scarcity and especially for crops such asCoconut, Grape, Banana, Ber, Citrus, Sugarcane,Cotton, Maize, Tomato, Brinjal and plantationcrops. The advantages of drip irrigation are:

1. Controlled application of water as perthe needs of plants at low pressure tolimited soil areas (root zones).

2. Water saving to the tune of 50 to 70 percent by reducing the total evaporativesurface, reduction in runoff andcontrolling deep percolation losses.

3. Soil erosion is minimal, due to no runoffwater on surface.

4. Weed growth is minimum.

5. Water loss through transpiration is low.

6. Development of surface crust anddetermination of surface soil structureis avoided. Soil compaction is less.

7. Limited soil wetting permits undisturbedcultural practices.

8. It is possible to obtain better yield andquality of crops by controlling soilmoisture-air -nutrients level.


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9. We can save the fertilisers by monitoringthe supply of nutrients as per the needof the crop.

10. Improvements in biological fertility canbe achieved by avoiding pollution.

The initial expenditure in establishing a longterm drip irrigation system usually costs aroundRs.32,000/- per hectare. This includes the costof all the components mentioned earlier exceptthe source of water and pump set on the well orboring. This heavy initial expenditure usuallydiscourages the cultivator to install drip systemsin his fields, though subsidies are given on thepurchase of these equipment by the central andstate governments. On the long term basis, thedrip irrigation system is more economical andpaying for the farmers.

• Sprinkler Irrigation

The main characteristics of sprinklerirrigation system are:

1. Sprinkler irrigation system conveyswater from the source through pipesunder pressure to the field anddistributes over the field in the form ofspray of ‘rain like’ droplets. It is alsoknown as overhead irrigation.

2. Different types of sprinkler systemsnamely portable, semi-portable, semi-permanent and permanent are in vogue.But due to increased labour costs andenergy costs, different types of sprinklersare developed.

3. Center-pivot system is largest sprinklersystem with a single machine canirrigate upto 100 ha. A center - pivotsprinkler consists of a series of sprinklersmounted on a lateral pipe, 50 - 800 mlong, mounted or carried by a row offive or more mobile towers.

4. One end of the lateral is fixed on a pivotpad. The unit rotates around a centerpivot where water is pumped into thepipe, and water is distributed throughsprinkler fitted on lateral. The limitationsof this system are,

5. 10 - 20 % of area is not irrigated at thecorners of square or rectangular plot.

6. High energy requirement and huge costof the equipment.

7. Now lateral - move systems aredeveloped to overcome the drawbacksin pivot-pivot system for irrigating

square or rectangular plots. Thisirrigation system consists of lateral -move systems, which move up anddown the field.

Sprinkler irrigation can be advantageouslychosen in the following situations:

1. When the soil is too shallow eliminatingthe possibility of levelling of lands.

2. When the land is too steep (> 1% slope).

3. When light (<5 cm) and frequentirrigations are to be given.

4. When soils are very sandy (rapidlypermeable coarse textured soils) and

5. When supplemental irrigation is to begiven to dry land crops duringprolonged dry spells, without any landpreparation.

Sprinkler irrigation can be a disadvantage inthe following situations:

1. High winds (>12 km/hr) causeimproper distribution of water.

2. Evaporation losses are high fromsprinkler irrigation especially under hightemperature and low relative humidityconditions.

3. The initial cost is high.

• Supplemental irrigation

Supplemental irrigation (SI) can be definedas the addition of small amounts of water toessentially rainfed crops during times whenrainfall fails to provide sufficient moisture fornormal plant growth, in order to improve andstabilize yields. SI in areas with limited waterresources is based on the following threepremises:

1. Water is applied to a rainfed crop whichwould normally produce some yieldwithout irrigation.

2. Since precipitation is the principal sourceof moisture for rain-fed crops, SI is onlyapplied when precipitation fails to provideessential moisture for improved andstabilized production.

3. The amount and timing of SI are notscheduled to provide moisture-stress-freeconditions throughout the growing season,but to ensure that the minimum amount


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of water required for optimal (notmaximum) yield is available during thecritical stages of crop growth.

Supplemental irrigation is the opposite of fullor conventional irrigation (FI). In the latter, theprincipal source of moisture is fully controlledirrigation water, and highly variable limitedprecipitation is only supplementary. SI is

dependent on the precipitation of a basic sourceof water for the crop.

Water for supplemental irrigation comesmainly from surface sources, but shallowgroundwater aquifers increasingly are beingused. Among non-conventional water resourcesthat have potential for the future, such as treatedsewage water-harvesting is also important.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES RELATED TO WATER RESOURCES IN INDIA

A) Water use efficiency:

Water use efficiency is not simply a matterof using less water through restrictions. It isabout careful management of water supplysources, use of water saving technologies,reduction of excessive demand and other actions.Water use efficiency is generally defined as: “thesocially beneficial reduction of water use orwater loss. It simply implies that:

• Water resource use and protection aregiven equal concern; external social,environmental and economic effects ofwater use are taken into account;

• Social and economic planning are integralto water use management; andcircumstances and context are importantfactors.

Irrigation sector is the biggest consumer ofwater as more than 80% of available waterresources in India are being presently utilizedfor irrigation purposes. However, the averagewater use efficiency of Irrigation Projects isassessed to be only of the order of 30-35%. Theproductivity of farm land has to be increased forincreased production of food to keep pace withthe increasing population. This requires thatmaximum agricultural land is brought underirrigated cultivation and multi crop farming.However, the land and water resources are finiteand scare. Thus increasing the water useefficiency of existing irrigation projects, projectsunder execution and contemplated for executionis of vital importance for maintaining foodsecurity and making available water for otherdevelopmental needs.

Irrigation projects use extensive open channelconveyance systems to distribute water fromsource to individual farm plots. The delivery ofirrigation water to individual farm plots incur asignificant loss of water due to: a)seepage;

b) evaporation; c) leakages in structures, gates,shutters; and d) poor water management in thedistribution network. While designing anyirrigation system, an assessment of these lossesis made and taken into account in totalrequirement of irrigation water so that systemmeets the crop water requirement of itscommand.

The loss of water, while it is conveyed fromsource to individual farm plots, takes place inthe following components of irrigation system:

(i) Losses in main & branch canals,distributaries, minors & sub-minors;

(ii) Losses in field channels and water coursesduring distribution of irrigation water fromfield outlets to individual farm plots; and

(iii) Losses in field application i.e. duringapplication of irrigation water to individualfarm plots.

‘Efficiency’ of water use has to be assessedin at least three ways. ‘Irrigation’ efficiency asconventionally defined by engineers relates to theratio of consumptive use of irrigation to grossirrigation supplies. ‘Productive’ efficiency, thatis the quantum of production per unit of waterutilized, can be measured with reference toconsumptive use, for irrigated and rain-fed areasseparately or in combination, and in physicalterms (yields or better crop biomas) forindividuals crops or in terms of value for totalcrop production. ‘Economic’ efficiency ismeasured by comparing the outcomes of thecurrent allocation and use of available water(and associated inputs) with their ‘optimum’allocation and use, given the technology, pricesof inputs and outputs, and weights attached todifferent social objectivs. On the basis of currentlyavailable data, utilized in this exercise, it ispossible to get an idea of the first two measuresof efficiency.


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Measures recommended for increasing WaterUse Efficiency

A. Structural Measures:

• Regular/periodic maintenance of canals byclearing off weed/ vegetation growth etc.;

• Restoration of sections of all channels totheir designed sections;

• Repair of damaged lining in canals andregular maintenance of lining so thatprogressive damage to lining could beavoided;

• Selective lining of canals in reaches passingthrough permeable soil strata;

• Lining of field channel/water courseshaving high losses;

• Regular maintenance of gates and shuttersso as to eliminate losses on account ofleakages.

• Repair / Replacement of damaged gatesand shutters;

• Improve control in distribution networksby providing appropriate controlstructures in canals and distribution system;

• Installation of water meters for ensuringvolumetric supply of irrigation water tofarmers;

• Rehabilitation & Restoration of Structures.

B. Non-structural Measures:

• Involvement of farmers in the managementof Irrigation Systems for ensuring equitabledistribution and efficient use of irrigationwater;

• Formation of Water Users Associations inthe command area and giving them theresponsibility of distribution of irrigationwater and maintenance of Irrigation systemprogressively starting from field channels;

• Adopting Participatory IrrigationManagement practices.

• Training of farmers so as to educate themon various issues related correctagricultural practices and the advantageof optimal irrigation and harms of overIrrigation.

• Providing agricultural extension facilities inthe command of each Project.

• Appropriate pricing policy for irrigationwater to avoid wastages and overirrigation.

B) Water Resource Management usingindigenous methods:

The indigenous knowledge in India hasalways developed practical ways for society tolive in a sustainable manner with nature, in fullrespect with the diversity of agro-ecologicalclimatic zones, even those that seems the mostdifficult and inhospitable.

In Indian tradition, the knowledge wastransmitted through practical work under thedirection of respected elders and gurus.

Some examples are:

a) Baudi is a deep stoned pit, which is dugwhere water percolates naturally from theearth surface. It is circular/square in shape,which gently slopes towards the pit in thecentre. While constructing baudis, themasons place stones in a particularsequence to have continuous percolationof water from the ground. Baudiissometimes provided with an outlet and iscovered with roof to protect the water. Itis smaller in size thus water is used onlyfor drinking purposes. Mostly, the baudisare located at an approachable distancefrom residential area. One of thecharacteristic features of baudi is that itnarrows down to the bottom.

b) Nawn is a type of water storing structurewith a huge capacity to store water. Onlocating the water source, a tank likestructure is constructed by stones. A specialchannel is segregated from the tank for theusers to wash clothes or take bath withoutpolluting the main water source. There isa provision of roof as well as walls on threesides of the tank with sluices on front sideto check falling of dust or any otherunwanted things into its water.

c) Khatris are rectangular, deep pits madeon the hill slopes in hard rocks, whererain water is collected through seepagefrom rocks. These traditional water storagestructures are mostly found in Hamirpur,Kangra and Mandi districts of HimachalPradesh. The basic purpose of khatri isnot to harvest the surface run off but the


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rainwater that flows through the rocks andsoils of hilly regions.

d) Tankas (small tank) are undergroundtanks, found traditionally in most Bikanerhouses. They are built in the main houseor in the courtyard. They were circularholes made in the ground, lined with finepolished lime, in which rainwater wascollected. Tankas were often beautifullydecorated with tiles, which helped to keepthe water cool. The water was used only

for drinking. If in any year there was lessthan normal rainfall and the tankas did notget filled, water from nearby wells andtanks would be obtained to fill thehousehold tankas. In this way, the peopleof Bikaner were able to meet their waterrequirements. The tanka system is also tobe found in the pilgrim town of Dwarkawhere it has been in existence for centuries.It continues to be used in residential areas,temples, dharamshalas and hotels.

STEPS TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT FOR WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

In the Indian context, the allocation offunctions and powers relating to naturalresources between the centre and the states isspecified in the Constitution. The developmentand management of all natural resources exceptminerals is vested with the states, subject tocentral government involvement and/orintervention in matters of national importanceand in matters involving inter-state matters andinternational relations. Central legislation oftentakes place in consultation with states. Inaddition, the centre also suggests modellegislation for adoption by the stategovernments.

The central government has formulated theNational Policy Statement in consultation withstates outlining the broad priorities andmodalities for extraction and utilization ofdifferent natural resources. The concretizationof these policies into programmes and theresponsibility for their implementation bydifferent agencies are significant, but by nomeans unfettered, influence on states’programmes because central financial assistanceand centrally sponsored schemes account for asignificant proposition of the resources for statedevelopment plans. Fiscal policies (especiallyincluding subsidies explicit and implicit in thepricing of natural resources) have become animportant factor influencing the quality ofnatural resource management.

Deficiencies in the legal framework:

Laws concerning water have grown in apiecemeal and ad hoc manner without a clearlyarticulated uniform conceptual basis in respectof something so fundamental as the nature andcontent of water rights. That users entitled to use

of water do not have ownership rights but onlyuse rights which is of course well recognized.

Another serious lacuna is the lack of clearlydefined criteria for determining the entitlementsof different claimants to the common pool ofwater resources in a river basin. Thus, centrallegislation does not specify the basis for decidingthe entitlements of riparian states.

Lacunae in the legal framework arecompounded by organizational deficiencies andweak governance. As noted earlier, all thefunctions relating to water resources are vestedwith the government. These processes are neithertransparent nor subject to any pubic scrutiny.Those directly affected and civic societyorganizations do not have any opportunity forparticipation or even consultation in thesematters. Even the limited grievances andcriticisms they voice are ineffective for lack ofaccess to relevant information. Another area ofglaring failure of governance is in theimplementation of water resource programmesfor both large scale projects and in local watersupply schemes, soil conservation, andwatershed development. The use of contractorsfor construction of local works is the normalpractice. They are closely linked to, or proxiesfor, locally influential people, often partyfunctionaries. The procedures for award ofcontracts, inspections of implementation, andverification of works reported to be complete arevery lax. Mostly they do not even exist. Instancesof incomplete works, works of poor quality, andsometimes no work at all are numerous. Severalinstances have been reported in the press anddocumented in some evaluation studies. Nogovernment has ever considered commissioningindependent periodic verification of specificworks reported to be completed.


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Without addressing the problem of weak andbad governance, it is futile to expect significantprogress in improving the quality of waterresource management, and averting the overexploitation and degradation of this criticalnatural resource. Some people (the World Bank,International Food Policy Research Institute andother international aid bureaucracies are themost vocal proponents of this line) argue thatthe solution lies in privatization and allowingthe market mechanism to take care of theproblem. This is untenable. Being a common poolnatural resource which plays a key role insustaining a healthy ecosystem, and which hasmultiple uses and numerous claimants, waterresource management involves reconciling andbalancing considerations of efficiency, equity,and sustainability. Given its fluidity and thepervasive scope for mutual interference betweenuses and users, enforceable property rights andtrading on any significant scale are nearlyimpossible. The market mechanism cannot,therefore, be expected to produce an efficientallocation across space and different uses. Andit will hardly be concerned with equity orsustainability. Hence, the competing claims haveto necessarily be mediated by the society throughpublic institutions and an essentially politicalprocess.

Institutional reform must address thefollowing basic issues:

1. We need to correct gaps, weaknesses, andinconsistencies in existing laws andregulations. There is a need for muchdeeper and systematic study of the scopeand content of specific laws, theirconceptual basis, clarity, and internalconsistency, the interpretation of the lawsby courts and tribunals reflected in theirjudgements, the extent to which they haveor have not met the criteria of justice andserved the interests of efficient, equitable,and sustainable use of water.

2. The process of arriving at important policydecisions as well as investment decisionsmust be made more transparent; theremust be adequate opportunities for thoseaffected by projects (whether beneficiallyor adversely) and citizens groups to voicetheir interests and concerns; and it shouldbe ensured that they are discussed in publicforms with the help of independentprofessionals.

3. Regulatory and dispute settlementmechanisms should be taken away fromthe government’s control and entrusted tobodies comprising independentprofessionals. Non-confrontational andquasi-judicial methods of resolving disputesshould be given greater importance andshould be encouraged through appropriateenabling legislation.

4. Giving user representative a sense of stakeand opportunity for active participation inmaking and implementing decisions at alllevels and a clearer definition of the rightsand obligations of stakeholders is essential.Some recent reform initiatives are welcomeattempts in this direction. But they are asyet confined to a few states and even thosethat have gone farthest (such as AP andOrissa) do not give the elected managementcommittees any power to decide, adapt,and enforce allocation rules and schedules.These powers still vest with the irrigationbureaucracy and are open to influence anddirection by the political executive.

5. Measures to improve the quality ofinformation and analyses on resources andtheir management must be a crucial partof institutional reform in the water sector(as indeed in many other spheres of publicinterest). Active user participation inresource management will facilitate widerand easier access of information to users.But a number of measures are needed toimprove the quality and reliability ofinformation and make them a truly publicgood. For this purpose, the followingspecific measures are essential:

• the apex agencies concerned with waterplanning and policies (the PlanningCommission, CWC, and state waterresource agencies) should significantlyexpand and improve professionalcompetence and increase the fundsallocated to collect more and better datafrom micro watersheds to sub-basinsand basins and using specializedprofessional units;

• these institutions as well as bodies suchas the Indian Council of Social ScienceResearch (ICSSR) should be given fundsto specifically encourage and facilitateuniversities and professional researchinstitutions to conduct sustained and in-


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depth studies on issues relating to thewater sector in different parts of thecountry;

• conventional field survey methods forcollecting data on the extent of irrigatedand rain-fed crop areas (overall) and bymajor as well as the status of reservoirs,crop conditions, and even yields shouldbe progressively replaced by the use ofremote sensing imagery—a fastdeveloping technology and one whichhas the potential to give far moreobjective and accurate estimates: and

• it should be made mandatory under theFreedom of Information Law for all suchinformation to be made freely accessibleto the public.

Further given that direct monitoring andenforcement of regulations is impossible, strongeconomic incentives are essential to influence thebehaviour of users. This depends essentially onthe cost at which water is available and the costsof methods of economizing water relative to thebenefits generated by water use. Governmentpolicies for pricing of water and electricity forpumping water totally ignore this. Publicirrigation is highly subsidized: water rates areonly a fraction of supply costs; and assessmentand collection of dues at even these low rates isvery lax. Electricity is also highly subsidized andsubsidies have been increasing over the years toa point where electricity is nearly free in severalstates.

Individual users’ decisions on investing inwell irrigation and the way they use waterdepends crucially on what it costs them to getwater relative to the benefits from its use.Irrigated land more than doubles theproductivity of land and in some areas increasesit by as much as four or five times. The returnsto irrigated agriculture have increased withspread of improved agricultural technology andincrease in the prices of farm produce. On theother hand, the costs of water (both surface andgroundwater) relative to output value have gonedown. In such a situation it is hardly surprisingthat the demand for irrigation has grown muchmore rapidly than available supplies. The resultis an increasing intensity of competition to accessthe water available in public systems andcompetitive deepening of wells in the face ofdeclining groundwater levels. The trends cannotbe arrested, much less reversed, unless the costof acquiring water at the user end is substantially

increased along with tighter management andstricter enforcement of regulations by the stateand the user communities. A radical change ininstitutional structures and pricing policy forwater and electricity are thus crucial for anysignificant movement towards more efficient andsustainable water use.

Some recent steps are:

• GOI is planning to establish NationalBureau of Water Use Efficiency

Centre will establish a National Bureau ofWater Use Efficiency as an “authority” for“promotion, regulation and control of efficientuse of water in irrigation, municipal andindustrial uses under the National Water Missionthat was established as part of the NationalAction Plan on Climate Change. The NationalBureau of Water Use Efficiency, will have theresponsibility of improving water use efficiencyacross various sectors namely irrigation, drinkingwater supply, power generation and industry.

The Bureau will take up five benchmarkingirrigation projects in parts of the country todemonstrate water use efficiency through watersupply on volumetric basis, empowering WaterUsers Associations to price water and collectwater charges and demonstrating state-of-the-art technologies.

Further to improving “water use efficiency”by 20 per cent, the Mission will review theNational and State Water Policies and prepareSate-specific Action Plans for water sector“through consultation process”.

States will have to establish Water RegulatoryAuthorities for overseeing water pricing andmandatory water audits. Several States have inthe past expressed reservations on such a move.

The Mission will issue guidelines to States forbasin-wise uses of water for irrigation, drinkingand industrial use. At the centre of the plan isthe strategy to open up the water sector andincentivise States that reform based on theprinciple that “incentivising is more effective inbringing out reforms.”

Simultaneously, studies will be undertakenon impact of climate change, if any, on waterresources.

With funding and technical assistance fromthe Asian Development Bank, the Ministry willinitiate a National Water Use Efficiency


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Improvement Support Programme to identify“priority actions”. The Central WaterCommission has identified 138 major and 73medium irrigation projects for baseline study ofwater use efficiency in two years. During 2013-14, water use efficiency is targeted to be raisedby five per cent.

• First Aquifer Atlas released:

Central Ground Water Board has releasedthe countries first aquifer atlas.

The atlas provides a country wide overviewand summary of the most important informationavailable for each principal and major aquifersystems and depicts aquifer wise ground waterscenario. It also deals with major issues andchallenges which need immediate attention forsustainable management of ground waterresources.

The aquifers of India have been classified into 14 principal and 42 major aquifer systems.The compilation has been done on 1:250,000scale by integrating the geological and hydrogeological data of CGWB & GSI respectively andvarious other ground water related thematicdata/information from other agencies.

Besides the all-India atlas, the State atlasesof Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, TamilNadu-Pudducherry, Kerala, Karnataka andMeghalaya have also been released.

Main findings of the atlas:

1. There has been a sharp decline ingroundwater levels in several parts of Delhi,West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana andRajasthan over the years.

2. Himachal Pradesh has the bestgroundwater level as water exploited isquickly recharged.

3. Within the national capital, South-WestDelhi is the worst affected by depletinggroundwater levels. The constructionaround Aravali Hills has created a situationwhich has disturbed the groundwaterrecharge system in the region. Further,overexploitation due to populationconcentration has led to depletion of levelsand the recharge process is slow due tothe type of soil in the region.

4. Hard rock areas of South India have alsobeen severely affected. But the rechargeprocess is faster in the rocky areas. Good

rains over a five- to seven-year period canbring back water in aquifers.

5. Alluvium, the major aquifer system, covers31 per cent area in the country and isavailable in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, WestBengal, Assam, Odisha and Rajasthan. Thisis followed by the sandstone aquifer thatcovers eight per cent area and is found inChhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka andRajasthan.

6. The rest of the country is covered with otherformations of which basalt is in 17 per centarea and is spread over Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, andKarnataka.

7. Shale aquifer accounts for seven per centarea and is available mostly inChhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, north-eastern Statesand in the Himalayas.

8. Limestone aquifer covers only two per centarea especially in Chhattisgarh, AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and in theHimalayan States.

9. Around 20 per cent area is covered byBanded Gneissic Complex and Gneissaquifers which are available in almost allpeninsular States as well as the Himalayanregion.

10. The alluvium aquifer, followed by basalt ismost suitable for artificial recharge anddevelopment of groundwater.

• Centre unveils River Basin Draft Bill:

The Centre has released a Draft River BasinManagement Bill which aims to set up 12 riverbasin authorities in the country to settle inter-statewater disputes, prevent floods and pollution.

The Draft River Basin Management Bill,which seeks to amend the River Boards Act,1956, propose to create a mechanism forintegrated planning, development andmanagement of water resources of a river basin.The current river boards do not have theprovision.

The Bill proposes a two-tier structure for eachof the 12 river basin authorities-Brahamani-Baitarini basin, Cauvery basin, Ganga basin,Godavari basin, Indus basin, Krishna basin, Mahanadi


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basin, Mahi basin, Narmada basin, Pennar basin,Subarnreakha basin and Tapi basin.

The governing council will be entrusted withthe job of approving the river basin master planto ensure sustainable river basin development,management and regulation.

While taking steps to enable the basin statesto agree on implementing the river basin masterplan, the authorities will also settle inter-statewater disputes.

The executive board on the other hand willprepare schemes for irrigation, water supply,hydropower, flood control, pollution control andsoil erosion.

The Bill mentions that the governing councilof the concerned river will use conciliation andmediation to solve disputes between two or morestates over recommendations of the authority orrefusal of the states to undertake steps inpursuing the river basin master plan. If thematter is not to be settled, the dispute will thenbe referred to the Inter State River WaterDisputes Act, 1956 for adjudication.

• National Water Framework Act drafted

The Ministry of Water Resources had initiatedthe process of reviewing the National WaterPolicy, 2002.The Salient Features of DraftNational Water Policy (NWP, 2012) are:

a) Constitutionally the States have the rightto frame suitable policies, laws andregulations on water, the draft NWP, 2012lays emphasis on the need for a national water framework law, comprehensivelegislation for optimum development ofinter-State rivers and river valleys, publictrust doctrine, amendment of the IndianEasements Act, 1882, etc.

b) The Draft NWP, 2012 presents a holisticpicture of ecological need of the river ratherthan restricting it to only minimum flowrequirement. It states that the ecologicalneeds of the river should be determinedrecognizing that river flows arecharacterized by low or no flows, smallfloods (freshets), large floods and flowvariability and should accommodatedevelopment needs. A portion of river flowsshould be kept aside to meet ecologicalneeds ensuring that the proportional lowand high flow releases correspond in timeclosely to the natural flow regime.

c) It recognizes the need to adapt to climatechange scenario in planning andimplementation of water resources projects.Coping strategies for designing andmanagement of water resources structuresand review of acceptability criteria has beenemphasized.

d) Need and approaches towards enhancingwater availability have been stipulated.Direct use of rainfall and avoidance ofinadvertent evapo-transpiration have beenproposed as the new additional strategiesfor augmenting utilizable water resources.

e) Draft proposes the mapping of the aquifersto know the quantum and quality ofground water resources in the country hasbeen proposed with the provision ofperiodic updation.

f) A system to evolve benchmarks for wateruses for different purposes, i.e., waterfootprints, and water auditing should bedeveloped to ensure efficient use of water.

g) Water Users Associations should be givenstatutory powers to collect and retain aportion of water charges, manage thevolumetric quantum of water allotted tothem and maintain the distribution systemin their jurisdiction.

h) All water resources projects, includinghydro power projects, should be plannedto the extent feasible as multi-purposeprojects with provision of storage to derivemaximum benefit from available topologyand water resources.

i) The Draft NWP, 2012 lays emphasis onpreparedness for floods / drought withcoping up mechanisms as an option.Frequency based flood inundation mapsshould be prepared to evolve copingstrategies.

j) Appropriate institutional arrangements foreach river basin should be developed tocollect and collate all data on regular basiswith regard to rainfall, river flows, areairrigated by crops and by source,utilizations for various uses by both surfaceand ground water and to publish wateraccounts on ten daily basis every year foreach river basin with appropriate waterbudgets and water accounts based on thehydrologic balances.


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WATER PRIVATIZATION: IS IT A SOLUTION FOR WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

A United Nations (UN) study says that bythe year 2025 two-thirds of the world may bewater-poor therefore, water has come to beknown as “the oil of the 21st century.” Aroundthe world, multinational corporations are takingprofit from the “water-starved” regions bytaking control of water as a commodity. Waterprivatization issue rose out of the growingproblem of water scarcity in the world. Treatingwater as an economic good, and privatizingwater systems are not new ideas. As a measureof the new importance of privatization, theWorld Bank, other international aid agencies andsome water organizations like the World WaterCouncil are increasingly pushing privatizationin their efforts.

Privatization of water utilities is beingcommon in much of the world;

• In France, water utilities are private;some are quite large and haveworldwide operations such as Veoliaand Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux.

• Britain’s government water monopolywas broken into eight large privatewater utilities by Margaret Thatcher (e.g.Thames Water).

• In US, water delivery is more publicthan in France; 86 % of people get their

household water services from a publicutility. But some members of Congressand local politicians want to see privatecompanies take over more watersystems.

Countries that have experimentedprivatization have not found that it solves theirwater woes. In fact, many private companies areproviding worse service at a higher cost thanmost public utilities.

On the other hand, privatization of waterservices is only the first step towards theprivatization of all aspects of water. Through theprivatization of water resources in thedeveloping world, collective ownership of waterresources is being replaced with corporatecontrol.

There are two main types of private sectorparticipation in water supply and sanitation: theBritish and the French Model.

The British Model consists of privatising thewater resources as well as water services andoperations. While in the French Model, waterresources remain publicly owned but theoperation and services are privatized. The Frenchmodel is more common worldwide.

CASE STUDY OF ENGLAND

England and Wales is a typical example of private participation in infrastructure. Privatizationin the water sector started in 1989. The reasons behind this included the efficiency of theprivate sector and the financial ability of private companies to finance the large investmentsneeded to repair the water systems in addition to increased competition. These privatecompanies were responsible to provide the entire cycle of services from extraction of rawwater, delivery of processed water and collection, treatment and discharge of wastewater.Thisprivatization ‘entailed a change in the ownership, financing and regulation of the waterindustry’. To this end, England developed extensive regulatory frameworks for the watersector to protect consumers and public health: “Companies were forbidden from disconnectingdomestic consumers (even for non-payment of bills), and were required to create special, lowtariffs for vulnerable consumers. They were also required to submit strategic financial plans aswell as resource development and water supply management plans to an economic regulatorand an environmental regulator for review”. As such, an environmental regulator, an economicregulator and a drinking water quality regulator were created where the economic regulatorrelied on price caps and yardsticks to improve competition.Today, in England and Wales,nine of the ten water companies that were privatized by public flotation in 1989 continue tooperate as private companies. In general, it is reported that privatization in England andWales has led to water quality and environmental improvements but at higher water prices .


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The reasons for the privatization of water are:

� Need for investment & financing for thisinvestment

� Need for technical expertise

� Increase efficiency

� Improve service quality

But whether water privatization is a boonor bane is a topic of debate in internationalscenario.

Supporters argue that privatization:

• improve efficiency,

• creates competition,

• enable the extension of water services withgood water quality.

• water sector obtains the necessaryinvestment finance and therefore it reducespublic debts and government subsidies.

On the other hand, the opponents toprivatization of water argue that-

• privatization increases the price of waterin developing countries, where the majorityof the population cannot afford it and thusit reduces access to clean water; so publichealth is undermined.

• This process leads to monopolies.

Although privatisation has broughtdiscernible improvements in water and

environmental quality, there are still numerousissues in need of attention. Technical efficiencyand waste minimization has been increasinglyscrutinized by regulators since privatization.There have been numerous pollution incidencessuch as heavy metal poisoning andeutrophication.

The issue of privatisation is very complex andthe extent and nature to which common manbenefit from water being privately or publiclyowned, depends on which category he belongswhether he is a consumer, business orgovernment. The water companies enjoy largeprofits and a large degree of control, whilst thegovernments have been able to pass theinvestment buck and yet still maintain someregulation of the industry. The ‘privatized regimeis in many respects better for consumers than itsnationalized predecessor’. Although there havebeen increases in water charges, they arejustified because they are due to increasedinvestment in the industry which has led toimproved water and environmental quality andsustainability.

However, there has been some concern overwhether consumers are receiving value formoney or whether the increased financial andpolitical aspect outweigh any improvement totheir water supply.

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Irrigation - WordPress.com · the irrigation results in flooding or near flooding of the cultivated land. Localized irrigation is a system where water is distributed under low pressure