178 India Infrastructure Report 2007

7 IRRIGATION AND WATER RESOURCES

PART I IRRIGATION: ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES

Apoorva Oza

WHAT IS IRRIGATION? small dams and canal networks, run-off from river lift irrigation
schemes and small tanks and ponds. Canal networks are largely

I
rrigation is the artificial application of water for the gravity-fed while lift irrigation schemes require electrical power.
cultivation of crops, trees, grasses and so on. For the urban Groundwater irrigation is accessed by dug wells, bore wells,
Indian, the word ‘irrigation’ conjures up images of the tube wells and is powered by electric pumps or diesel engines.
first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the To meet the growing needs of irrigation, the government and
Bhakra Nangal Dam (Temples of Modern India) and images farmers have largely focused on a supply side approach rather
of Medha Patkar, Aamir Khan, and the tribal oustees of the than improve the efficiency of existing irrigation systems.
Narmada dam. These are diverse perspectives on the story of
large irrigation infrastructure in India. In fact, in popular
public perception, irrigation connotes ‘large irrigation Irrigation Sector Terminology
infrastructure’ rather than provision of irrigation services. The terms used by the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR),
For a typical Indian farmer, looking up to the skies to see Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), and the Ministry
whether the rain gods will favour him this time, irrigation of Agriculture (MoA), the three ministries within the
means a wide range of interventions at the farm level, ranging government responsible for irrigation are as follows:
from a couple of support watering(s) (or ‘life saving’ watering) 1. Major irrigation (cultivable command area above
during the kharif (monsoon) season from a small check dam/ 10,000 ha).
pond/tank/dry well to assured year-round water supply from 2. Medium irrigation (cultivable command area between
canals or tube wells to farmers cultivating three crops a year. 2000 ha to 10,000 ha).
The method of application has also evolved, from traditional 3. Minor irrigation (cultivable command area less than
gravity flow and farm flooding to micro-irrigation where water 2000 ha)
is applied close to the root zone of the plant. a. Surface irrigation
Indian farmers gain access to irrigation from two sources— b. Groundwater irrigation
surface water (that is, water from surface flows or water storage This classification belongs to an era when all ‘irrigation’
reservoirs) and groundwater (that is, water extracted by pumps was largely surface irrigation, promoted and supported by
from the groundwater aquifers through wells, tube wells and the government. Hence, groundwater irrigation, which was
so on). Surface irrigation is largely provided through large and in its infancy till the 1960s, is slotted into minor irrigation as
 Irrigation and Water Resources 179

each ‘scheme’ (or well/bore well) in its individual capacity AWR was 2214 cum in 1996 but is estimated to go down to
irrigates 1 to 5 ha of land. Minor irrigation also includes a 1496 cum by 2025. Also, while the AWR is high now, the real
large number of small surface irrigation schemes such as village availability of water is based on the developed water resource
tanks, and ponds, including many which were constructed (DWR) which is only 25 per cent of the AWR (Gulati et al.
pre-independence and managed by the local community and 2005). Also, the national averages do not tell the whole story
have been now handed over to the panchayat administration. as water is a local issue and there are many regions in India
Two other terms which are critical to our understanding where water availability per capita is below the safe level. The
of irrigation sector are ‘watershed’ and ‘micro-irrigation’. other main users of water, (urban and rural drinking water),
‘Watershed’ may be defined as an area from where rainwater industry and environment, show an increase in demand.
is drained through a common outlet (lake/river/rivulet) and As urbanization increases in India, demand for water from
therefore, can range in size from a few states to a few ha. It is the urban sector will increase. Already water conflicts are rising
a hydrologic unit which is useful for natural resource planning with irrigation water being diverted for urban drinking water
and management. The watershed programme, funded by the supplies in times of scarcity. Farmers in Rajasthan have not
Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and Ministry of allowed dam waters to be drained to the Bharatpur Sanctuary.
Agriculture (MoA), focuses on a range of multi-disciplinary With an increasing population and growing needs, the gap
interventions (afforestation, soil and water conservation between the demand and availability will only widen with
measures, water harvesting and so on) in a watershed which time. Hence, irrigation as a sector will be under increasing
is demarcated so as to be as contiguous to the village boundary pressure from other sectors to share scarce water. The irrigation
as possible. The watershed programme is a key programme sector will be compelled to introduce reform towards better
of the MoRD and MoA to increase agriculture productivity water management and minimization of wastage to be able
in areas which are rainfed and cannot access any surface to meet its growing demands from progressively less water
irrigation scheme (the watershed programme guidelines availability per capita.
specifically prohibit work on villages which have more than
30 per cent area already under irrigation).
Micro-irrigation encompasses drip and sprinkler technologies.
STATUS OF IRRIGATION
Traditionally, irrigation is provided to crops by flooding the In India, the irrigated area is 34 per cent of the net area sown.
entire farm, largely through gravity-based flow. To get ‘more The gross irrigated area is 80 million ha which gets India the
crop per drop’ two major technologies of drip and sprinkler prize for the largest amount of irrigated agriculture in the
irrigation have been developed. In both these technologies, world. The break-up is given in Table 7.1.1.
water is available in quantities and location more suitable to The so termed ‘minor’ irrigation is now the major source
the plant growth and near the root zone. Use of these technologies as groundwater provides 50 per cent of the gross area under
improves the efficiency of irrigation. Application of micro- irrigation (in fact recent data shows that in terms of net sown
irrigation devices leads to 30–70 per cent water savings relative area, groundwater provides 60 per cent of the net irrigated
to flood irrigation.
Table 7.1.1
Irrigation and Water Resources in India: Irrigated Area in India
Competition for Scarce Resources
Ultimate
The world over, the irrigation sector is the largest user of irrigation
water—almost 80 per cent of the water in the world is taken Utilization Capacity potential1
up by irrigation (in India, the irrigation sector uses ~85 per (in million ha) (in mha) (in mha)
cent of its available water resources). The average rainfall in Major & Medium 28.02 32.69 58.50
India is 1170 mm and given the geographical area of 3.3 million Minor:
km, gives India 4000 cu km of water. Almost 50 per cent of Groundwater 42.50 45.73 64.05
this water is lost to evaporation, percolation, sub-surface flows
Surface 10.12 10.89 17.38
to oceans and only 1953 bcm is accounted for. Because of
Total 52.62 56.62 –
spatial and temporal variation in the availability of water, only
1086 bcm is utilizable* (Phansalker and Verma, 2005). An Total 80.54 89.31 139.90
availability of 1700 cubic meters of water per capita annual Source: Gulati et al. (2005).
water resource (AWR) is safe (Falkenmark et al. 1976). India’s
1The Ultimate Irrigation Potential (UIP) is an estimate prepared
*Small variation from utilizable surface water given in Part II is by the Ministry of Water Resources of the overall potential for irrigation
due to different sources of data. in the country.
180 India Infrastructure Report 2007
40
Increased Siltation of Large Dams
35
million hectares irrigated

30 The Inter-Ministry Task Force on large reservoirs maintains

25 that one third of their storage capacity has been affected by
20 siltation, resulting in reduced area under irrigation and
15 lowering the life of the dam. In most cases the rate of siltation
10 is far in excess of the rate assumed during construction
5 (Planning Commission, 2002).
0
1950–1 1960–1 1970–1 1980–1 1984–5 1993–4 1999–2000

Wells
Time and Cost Over-runs
Canal Tanks
Another issue related to most large dams is that they are not
Fig. 7.1.1 The Evolution of Forms of Irrigation in India 1950–2000
completed within the scheduled period or budget and spill
Source: Bhatia (2005). over from one 5-year plan to another. When the Tenth Plan
began, there were 410 on-going projects, some of them started
area (Shah and Deb, 2004). As can be seen, the potential created in the Fifth Five-Year Plan. The spillover costs from previous
so far (till 1997) is only 64 per cent of the UIP. Thus, projects to the Tenth Plan are Rs 17,700 crore which is more
groundwater is a critical element in filling the need gap for the than the allocated amount (MoRD, 2006). These delays have
rural farmers, as it has provided irrigation in areas where the not only led to escalated costs but also to delays in returns
public irrigation systems have not reached or where the service from the investment and lower the viability of these projects.
delivery has been poor. In the last two decades, 84 per cent of
the addition to net irrigated area has come from groundwater. Tail-ender Deprivation
Farmers who have land at the end of the canal system are called
Major and Medium Irrigation tail-enders. They include farmers in the tail reach as well as
In terms of investment by the government, major and medium those at the end of the upper and middle reaches of the canal
irrigation sector accounts for 57 per cent of investment in system. It has been known that many get neither enough
the irrigation sector which serves only 35 per cent of the nor timely water. A national research study undertaken by
total area irrigated (Gulati et al. 2005). The infrastructure is the Development Support Centre shows that tail-ender
ageing; there is an increased siltation of large dams, time and deprivation is far more than assumed thus far. In Gujarat, in a
cost over-runs, and tail-ender deprivation. major water deficient project Dharoi with 45,000 ha of
command area, the tail-enders’ problem was found in 37 per
cent of the command area. Even in the areas with warabandi
Ageing of the infrastructure
system in Punjab and Haryana, 70 per cent of the tail-end
Almost 60 per cent of the total dams of the country are more farmers got 54 per cent to 70 per cent less water than they were
than two decades old (Figure 7.1.2). Canal networks also need entitled to. A good example of how this is hidden from the
annual maintenance. Besides regular maintenance, many older existing monitoring system is the large Tungabhadra system
structures need replenishment for which funds are a constraint. in Karnataka where farmers in the last reach got 91 per cent
less water than they were entitled to even though the project
1400 performance was claimed as 90 per cent (DSC, 2003). A major
1200 impact of this was the lower agricultural productivity of tail-
end farmers, movement to low-value crops or practice of
Number of Dams

1000

800 leaving land fallow.

600
The causes of tail-ender deprivation are excessive use by
head-reach farmers, poor maintenance, less funds allotted
400
to tail regions for maintenance, poor construction, and
200
design fault.
0
>100 100–50 40–50 30–40 20–30 10–20 <10 Under
Construction
Year Minor Irrigation
Fig. 7.1.2 Age of Major Water Infrastructure in India
Minor irrigation currently covers 52.62 million ha of land.
Source: Tyagi (1987). The third minor irrigation census carried out in 2000–1 covered
 Irrigation and Water Resources 181

6.3 lakh villages in 586 districts. It showed 19.7 million ha of from 77 billion to 115 billion (Shah and Deb, 2004). Tube
irrigation of which 18.5 million are groundwater schemes wells are now the largest source of irrigation in the country
and 1.2 million are surface water irrigation. The 18.5 million and their share has increased from 1 per cent in 1960–1 to
groundwater schemes have created an irrigation potential of 37 per cent in 1999–2000 (MoRD, 2006). Since this sector
62.4 million ha (3.37 ha per schemes) while the 1.2 million has almost no dependence on the government, it is growing
surface irrigation schemes have created an irrigation potential at a rapid rate and it is estimated that one million wells are
of 11.9 million ha (9.9 ha per scheme). The surface and added every year (Shah and Deb, 2004).
groundwater schemes are very different in nature and we Being an individually managed source, ground water
analyse concerns and potential later. irrigation is also a more efficient form of irrigation, with crop
yields per cubic meter of water being 1.2 to 3 times higher
than surface irrigation. However, since this sector has grown
Surface Water Schemes in Minor Irrigation
through investment by individual farmers, with little state
The average command area of the surface water schemes is involvement compared to canal irrigation, government support
about 10 ha (Census, 2001). This adequately covers the range for understanding this sector and improving its performance
of schemes included in this category from small ponds with is negligible. The major issues for the future growth of
a command area of 2 to 5 ha to large flow irrigation systems groundwater irrigation are declining resource base, demand
with a capacity of 5200 ha and more. Administratively, in driven growth, and a lack of policy and regulatory framework.
most states minor irrigation schemes are managed by the
Panchayat irrigation department. Since there are a large DECLINING RESOURCE BASE
number of schemes with low command area and are dispersed While on the average out of the 430 bcm available, only 160
over many villages, existing panchayat irrigation staff for bcm is withdrawn, this average hides the localized stress on
managing these schemes is much less. In most cases, village the resource of large regions currently dependent on
panchayats do not have the resources to maintain these schemes groundwater. The number of blocks which have more than
on their own leading to shrinkage in use of this potential to 90 per cent groundwater development (GWD) is increasing.
only 58 per cent i.e. 6.9 million ha only. The major structures In Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan more than 40 per cent of
under surface irrigation schemes are tanks and water harvesting the blocks are over-exploited and for the country as a whole,
structures which amount to 0.55 million structures out of 14 per cent of the blocks are over-exploited. This is expected
the 1.2 million schemes. In drought prone areas where rainfall to increase to 60 per cent in the next 25 years (MoRD, 2006).
is uncertain, like Rajasthan, the tanks have fallen into disuse.
Out of the 0.55 million tanks only 0.47 million tanks are in DEMAND DRIVEN GROWTH
use. About 3 million ha potential irrigation is lost because of
non-use or under-utilization of these tanks. The major issues There are many regions of India with hard rock geology which
concerning minor irrigation are: have lower groundwater potential than the alluvial plains. Since
1. lack of attention by the irrigation institutions; groundwater extraction is primarily driven by the needs of
2. siltation and non-availability of power; the population and the density of farmer population and not
3. though technically they belong to the panchayat, they are the quality of resource, groundwater irrigation is scaling up
neither managed by them nor are the funds routed through even in such hard rock areas causing irreversible depletion of
them. Hence, the community ownership of many of these the resource base (Shah and Deb, 2004).
panchayats is very low;
A POLICY VACUUM
4. Traditional institutions—community-based organizations
(CBO)—which used to manage these tanks, do not exist Currently there is no policy framework governing the use of
now and new institutions at the village level to address groundwater. In 1974, the central government had introduced
the changing needs of the villagers have not yet evolved. the Groundwater Act which was not adopted by any state. In
any case, most policy makers feel that regulating thousands
of wells is operationally not possible. However, the first
Groundwater Irrigation
requirement for evolving effective policies is to shift from water
Groundwater now contributes to 60 per cent of the area irrigated resource development to water resource management as in
in India. India also has the highest annual groundwater many areas, development has already taken place and if
extraction in the world. Since 1970, it has been contributing not managed, will lead to collapse of the groundwater
more to agricultural wealth than surface irrigation. The resource. Options which can be considered are a combination
contribution of groundwater increased from Rs 22 billion in of legal measures with indirect regulation through power
1970 to 132 billion in 1993 while surface water increased supply.
182 India Infrastructure Report 2007

THE IMPORTANCE OF IRRIGATION IN land prices after a rainfed area got access to irrigation and (b)
THE INDIAN ECONOMY
the large private investments made by individual farmers in
ground water irrigation.
Till the 1990s, Finance Ministers used to say that ‘Every budget
is a gamble on the monsoon’. For the more than 70 per cent of
Irrigation Multiplier
the Indian population, living in rural India and dependent on
agriculture directly or indirectly, the monsoon controlled their The Irrigation multiplier is estimated to be 4.5 (returns per ha
purchasing power year after year. Even now, when agriculture per season) and 3.15 (returns per ha per year). In either case
contributes less than 20 per cent to the national economy, more the farmers’ share of the total marginal benefits of irrigation
than 600 million people are dependent on agriculture for their to the society is between 22 to 32 per cent. This means that
livelihood. Therefore, irrigation infrastructure, which has the the economy-wide benefits of irrigation are much higher than
potential to insure the farmer against the vagaries of the monsoon what a farmer gets in terms of increased crop output in a crop
and increase his income from a small (and diminishing) land season or year. However, it should be noted that while there is
holding is the most critical infrastructure for rural India. strong correlation between increased irrigation and reduction
There have been several studies which have established in poverty in India, the ultimate impact of irrigation on
immense benefits of irrigation. The increased food security reduction in poverty depends on other factors such as the
of the country, increased agriculture incomes in irrigated areas, structures of agriculture production, rural institution, the
the success of the green revolution, are all linked to timely consumption feed back and labour mobility. In fact, there are
availability of water for crops not dependent on rainfall alone. states in India like Bihar, UP, and Tamil Nadu which have high
In addition to the direct benefits there are indirect benefits irrigation and yet high rates of poverty (Bhattarai, 2004b).
emanating from forward and backward integration. Studies The marginal impact of irrigation on poverty has also declined
both at the village level and regional level have shown these over time. Responsiveness of poverty reduction which used
indirect impacts. For every Rs 100 of direct benefits the to be 0.4 to 0.5 with respect to 1 per cent increase in irrigated
Bhakra dam generated 90 rupees of indirect benefits for the area has reduced to 0.2 in 1999–2000 (World Bank, 2005).
regional economy and had an impact in areas even beyond the
region (World Bank, 2005). Similarly, the impact of the green
Beneficiaries of Irrigation
revolution in the North Arcot region of Tamil Nadu proved
that each rupee spent on irrigation led to an additional value A major concern regarding the irrigation systems, especially,
generation in the non-farm economy (IFPRI, 1985). About that provided by large dams is that it benefits only large farmers.
50 per cent of the growth in the non-farm economy was due Data, however, show that 40 per cent of the beneficiaries of
to agricultural demand for inputs and marketing services and major irrigation systems are small and marginal farmers. Large
the remaining 50 per cent was because farmers as consumers farmers form only 12 per cent of the command area of the
had higher purchasing power to buy more consumer and other major irrigation schemes (Joshi, 1997). In addition the
goods (Chambers, 1988). In fact, the provision of irrigation increased income of labourers who are not direct beneficiaries
improved the returns on social sector investment as well. of the irrigation system is substantial. Besides, with the
Returns to five years of education were 32 per cent in irrigated increased number of working days, the wage rate is also likely
districts and nil in un-irrigated districts (Pritchett, 2002). to increase when there is provision of irrigation. These are
Chambers (1988) mentions that impact of irrigation on the great benefits, especially, for the landless who have to migrate
livelihoods of the rural poor comes about through employment every year to urban areas to get employment during the non-
incomes, security against impoverishment, non-compulsive monsoon period leading to fragmentation of families. Studies
migration, and improvement in the quality of life. show that villages with intensive year-round irrigation attract
In terms of food security in India, the 35 per cent irrigated landless population from the surrounding villages who then
area provides more than 60 per cent of the food production. settle down permanently (Chambers, 1988). Distressed and
Studies show that at the village level irrigation provides higher seasonal migration has a negative effect on education as
and more stable employment and the poor are the major parents do not lead a stable life. Studies show that after irrigation
beneficiaries. In fact, the contribution of irrigation to when people stay in one village, they start sending their children
employment is greater than even high yielding varieties. Studies to school.
show that there is an increase in number of days work required Groundwater-based irrigation largely has the same benefits
per ha with irrigation compared with rainfed condition ranging as surface irrigation. However, groundwater brings greater
from 60 per cent (Datiwada canal) to more than 150 per cent benefits for small and marginal farmers. But, there is a downside
(Ferozpur, Punjab) (World Bank, 2005). for small and marginal farmers who own dug wells at the village
The increase in value and incomes which irrigation provides level. As large and well-resourced farmers can dig deeper and
can also be judged by two other indicators: (a) increase in invest in bore wells their extraction from the bore wells renders
 Irrigation and Water Resources 183

many shallow dug wells nearby inoperative. This means that submergence of land, displacement of people, and over-
farmers who are getting irrigation from dug wells now do extraction of ground water.
not reap the benefit in the longer run as their groundwater
source is extracted by larger bore well farmers.
Submergence of Land due to Surface Reservoirs
Gender Issues Submergence of land for reservoirs leads to displacement of
people and also causes extensive environmental damage as
While irrigation largely benefits the farming community, stretches of forest and traditional eco-systems are also
within a typical farming household men and women have submerged. Fish population in rivers is also affected, negatively
different roles and responsibilities. While in groundwater affecting the livelihoods of downstream villages. Estimates
irrigation, the entire decision-making is at the farm level since on the number of people displaced so far as a consequence of
most farmers have private wells, in canal irrigation systems surface reservoir systems vary widely from 21 million to 40
decision-making is through irrigation institutions. Membership million with 40–50 per cent of those displaced belonging to
to irrigation institutions is based on ownership of agricultural scheduled tribes (D’Mello, 2002). The fact that the country
land and because hardly 3–5 per cent of rural women own has no systematic rehabilitation and resettlement policy for
land, women are largely absent in most irrigation cooperative this large group of people is a matter of serious concern.2
societies. Studies show that 65 per cent of agricultural activity Displacement leads to fragmentation of communities, loss
in most part of the country is done by women farmers of livelihoods, and a pitiable migratory existence in search of
(Douglas and Bavisker, 1997). Increased migration to cities labour in urban and semi-urban areas. While the rehabilitation
in many areas by men has also led to an increase in women policy has changed from cash compensation to land-for-land,
headed rural households wherein women bear almost total the government has still not developed a system to ensure that
responsibility for the agriculture operations. Shilpa Vasavada, farmers, whose only livelihood skills are related to farming, are
in her study of women irrigators of canal irrigation systems supported towards developing new livelihood skills after
in South Gujarat, has shown that while women farmers displacement. Rehabilitation, therefore, suffers from the
contribute substantial labour in agricultural operations and following policy infirmities.
in the maintenance of canal, their involvement in the decision 1. The definition of project-affected people is not adequate,
making for access of canal instituitions is marginal (Vasavada, with villagers displaced partially or those displaced by
2000). Therefore, institutions which exclude women from irrigation department housing colonies being treated
the decision-making-process do not really represent the differently from dam displacement.
ground reality and consequently, they do not run systems 2. Rehabilitation procedures are time-consuming, cumbersome,
efficiently or equitably. This lack of participation from women and have a history of instances of ‘rent-seeking behaviour’.
farmers in irrigation institutions is not only detrimental to 3. The land allotted is scattered and not with similar livelihood
the efficiency of the system but also affects the workload on options (tribals, for example, who were earlier near forests
women farmers. Advaita Marathe’s study points out that depended on forests for part of their incomes).
when women are involved in decision-making roles, there is 4. Cash compensation is given without proper advice or
better conflict management and timely recovery of dues livelihood training with the result that money is spent
(Marathe, 2003). without a new long-term livelihood option, leading to
Therefore, policy action must target proactive involvement increase in the numbers of unskilled labour force.
of women farmers in all decisions related to irrigation water
management at the village level. Participatory Irrigation
Management Act needs to incorporate clauses which ensure Tribals and Displacement
that women and men are both members of Water User’s
A large number of people displaced are from tribal
Associations even if they do not own the land.
communities, because large dam sites submerge hilly areas
where most tribals live. Tribal areas are among the poorest in
WHO LOSES OUT TO THE PREVAILING IRRIGATION the country3. It is estimated that till 1990, 8.5 million tribals
POLICY IMPERATIVES? have been displaced, out of which 64.23 per cent are yet to
be rehabilitated (Fernandes, 1994).
While much has been written about the benefits of irrigation,
there is a downside to both surface and groundwater irrigation 2National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation for Project
methods. Over the years, the negative effects of irrigation Affected Families-2003 by the Ministry of Rural Development is not
(both surface and groundwater) are becoming apparent and comprehensive enough to deal with resettlement and rehabilitation issues.
irrigation projects are no longer perceived as ‘temples of 3About 30 of the poorest 69 districts in the country have a tribal

modern India’. The major problems caused by irrigation are population of more than 30 per cent (Debroy & Bhandari, 2003).
184 India Infrastructure Report 2007

Scheduled tribes are the most deprived sections of the Indian 4. Arsenic: This is found in West Bengal and is also caused
society, even when compared to scheduled castes. With 8.4 by extraction of deeper aquifers.
per cent population, scheduled tribes have a poverty incidence
of 49.2 per cent and form 15.7 per cent of the total poor.
Water-logging Affecting Quality of Land
This compares unfavourably with scheduled castes, who form
21.3 per cent of the population and have incidence ratio of 42 The water-logging of areas because of excessive irrigation and,
per cent and ‘other communities’, who have poverty incidence consequently, rendered saline and alkaline, is a major problem.
ratio of only 28 per cent. While tribals are displaced so that The Ministry of Water Resources shows total area
the ‘country’ gets irrigation, the area under irrigation in tribal waterlogged, saline and alkaline, as 6 million ha. Considering
areas is much less (less than half!) than the national average. the fact that surface irrigation projects have only irrigated 38
Tribal districts have only 14.98 per cent of irrigated area as million ha so far, this is a considerable loss of cultivated area
percentage of net sown area as against 33.59 per cent for the (Vaidyanathan, 1994 and MoRD, 2006). The other negative
country as a whole. Only 3.66 per cent of the irrigated area in effects relate to increase in malaria and water-borne diseases
tribal districts is served by major irrigation schemes compared because of increased waterbodies.
to 9.9 per cent for the country (Phansalker and Verma, 2005b).
Hence, there should be a comprehensive approach to addressing
the issue of displacement. Otherwise large projects will never
FINANCING OF THE IRRIGATION SECTOR
be feasible in this country. There is also a need to address the The country spent Rs 920 billion (at historical prices) till 1997
irrigation needs of tribals so that irrigation is not merely a on the irrigation sector. Fifty-seven per cent of this expenditure
‘curse’ for the poorest in the country. has been for major and medium irrigation, 32 per cent for minor
irrigation, 6 per cent for command area development and 5
per cent for flood control. It may be noted that the expenditure
Groundwater Over-extraction Affecting Quality of Water
on minor irrigation only includes the State expenditure and it
The unregulated growth of groundwater irrigation, while does not include the money spent by farmers themselves. Tushaar
providing irrigation access to millions of small farmers, has Shah estimates the total private investment in the groundwater
led to mining of groundwater aquifers and affected the quality irrigation to be Rs 480 billion (Shah and Deb, 2004).
of groundwater. Since groundwater is a common source for
domestic water supply in addition to irrigation, the drinking
Financing of Surface Irrigation
water quality of a large number of villages and urban settlements
has been affected. Field-level studies show how excessive While in absolute terms, state investment in the irrigation sector
exploitation by a few farmers has rendered entire villages has increased, and recently the government announced a range
dependent on external sources for drinking water. Since of schemes like the Accelerated Irrigation Development
women are traditionally responsible for fetching drinking Programme (AIDP), the Bharat Nirman and so on, the
water there has been increased drudgery for women in many irrigation sector’s outlay, as a percentage of the total plan outlay,
such areas. This, in turn, causes health problems for all such is now less than 10 per cent. The irrigation sector needs funds
drinking water users. The major water quality problems are: for maintenance and replacement of the existing canal irrigation
1. Salinity in coastal areas: Over-extraction has led to intrusion infrastructure, developing new infrastructure in areas which
of sea-water along the coast. Four coastal states, namely, have had no access to irrigation so far, and funding the power
Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, and Gujarat suffer infrastructure which makes groundwater irrigation possible.
from coastal salinity. Gujarat alone has set up a separate The international norm for replenishment and repair costs
‘Salinity Ingress Prevention Circle’ as part of its Irrigation as a percentage of the value of the capital stock4 is about 3
Department to address this problem. The Gujarat per cent which translates to Rs 60 billion for maintenance
government records show that 950 villages suffer from which is much more than the annual plan outlay. Hence,
coastal salinity ingress. meeting this norm does not seem feasible and therefore, the
2. Excessive fluoride causing fluorisis: Thirteen states in India quality of the infrastructure is bound to decline over time if
have evidence of fluorisis and it is reported that about not maintained properly.
half a million people in India suffer largely due to excessive The Irrigation Commission appointed by the Government
fluoride. of India in 1972 recommended that the maintenance cost
3. Nitrates: Excessive nitrate is a problem in twelve states, should be covered by the water charges. However, in India
though in some cases it is not only caused by excessive
groundwater withdrawal for irrigation but because of high 4In India the current value of the infrastructure of major, medium,
mineral content in the aquifers as a natural condition. and minor irrigation is about Rs 2000 billion.
 Irrigation and Water Resources 185

this is not the case as water rates are decided on political repairs on their own, at much lower unit costs than the
considerations and have remained stagnant in most states for irrigation department, if they have management responsibility
the last twenty years. In 1960s, the receipts could cover the for the canal irrigation system. In groundwater irrigation and
O&M expenses, but since then the ratio of receipts/working small water harvesting structures, where individual or groups
expenses has steadily declined and is currently about 40 per of farmers feel that they can exercise greater control over the
cent. The O&M budget of the Government of India includes management and use of the resource, there is substantial ‘private’
administration costs, extension and maintenance and repairs. investment. Applying the same principle, if the irrigation
With increased staff costs, a larger proportion of the O&M institutions allow a greater role to farmers and political populism
budget has gone towards administrative costs, leaving fewer does not propagate free water assets, farmers will invest in the
funds for actual repairs and maintenance. Overall, only 27.5 major and medium irrigation sector, as they do in groundwater
per cent of the total O&M funds are available for repairs and and minor irrigation schemes.
maintenance (Gulati et al. 2005).
Therefore, a combination of low water rates, poor recoveries,
and increased allocation of O&M expenses to administrative
IRRIGATION–POWER NEXUS
costs have led to a situation where there is hardly any money Groundwater now covers 70 per cent of the total irrigated area
for maintenance and replenishment. Since O&M budgets in the country and 70 per cent of the irrigated households.
are at the discretion of the state governments, in a scenario Almost 1 million wells are added every year. A large number
of increasing state deficits, it gets less priority. This scenario of wells are funded by farmers or entrepreneurs. However, as
has meant that the quality of infrastructure has declined the contrast between the costs of canal irrigation (where the
rapidly. Many states have accessed international funding to government pays for the entire infrastructure of delivering
restore infrastructure rather than build new infrastructure. water to the field and charges a low water rate which amounts
to 3 per cent of the cost of cultivation) and groundwater
irrigation (almost 10 time more) increased, there was a
Funding New Infrastructure
demand for subsidizing the electricity used for groundwater
The capital cost of canal irrigation has gone up steadily over extraction. As irrigated areas increasingly moved to groundwater
the years. Some economists put the capital cost of irrigation irrigation, the ‘free or subsidized electricity’ developed great
potential created during the Eighth Plan at Rs 1.9 lakh per value as a populist tool, with the result that many states declared
ha (Gulati et al. 2005). The CWC on the other hand, using free power for farmers. The Planning Commission says that
a simplistic formula of dividing the cumulative costs by the 30 per cent of the sales of the State Electricity Board go to the
cumulative potential, arrives at a figure of Rs 68,000 per ha. agriculture sector which provides only 3 per cent of the revenue.
As per the Planning Commission (2002), the cost of creating However, others differ—World Bank estimates that farm
additional potential from major and medium projects is subsidies amount to 10 per cent of the total supply cost or
Rs 1.43 lakh per ha at the end of the Ninth Five-Year Plan about Rs 240 billion a year. This is about 2.5 times the
(MoRD, 2006). annual expenditure of canal irrigation. In seven states, the
The gap between potential created and actual irrigation electricity subsidy to agriculture is more than 40 per cent
potential of surface irrigation schemes (major, medium) is of the gross fiscal deficit (2000–01) (World Bank, 2005).
about 25.2 million ha. Assuming Rs 1.42 lakh per ha, the The irrigation power nexus has also led to large amount
funds required are a staggering Rs 350,000 crore, making the of water wastage:
task look improbable with only government funding. 1. Since power is subsidized, and for a long time there was a
fixed annual tariff5 based on the horsepower of the motor,
there was no incentive for the farmer to save water. Irrigation
Alternate Financing Options
is a low priority sector and often receives electricity at
The future for financing the new irrigation sector looks bleak night. Farmers generally leave the motors switched on and
unless other options are explored. Several states (Karnataka, sleep while the waters flood their fields and drain away.
Gujarat, and Maharashtra) have explored the option of raising 2. Increased subsidies make groundwater extraction cheap,
funds from the market to finance irrigation infrastructure. hence, there is no incentive to make irrigation more efficient
However, as Phansalkar points out in his study, these efforts (explaining the poor growth of the micro-irrigation sector)
have slim chances of success unless there is a comprehensive Cheap irrigation provides an incentive for a high level of
reengineering of the irrigation institutions, their performance
incentives and accountability (Phansalkar, 2004). 5The fixed tariff was tried to make it cheap for farmers to pump
Participatory Irrigation Management pilot studies show out water in waterlogged areas and also because the cost of collecting
that cost-recovery does improve and farmers do take up canal metered rates was greater than the value of the bill in many areas.
186 India Infrastructure Report 2007

groundwater extraction, making the source unsustainable. Recent Initiatives by the Government
The greater the depth of extraction (in the north Gujarat
region, bore wells have reached 1000 feet depth!) the greater The Accelerated Irrigation Development Programme (AIDP)
the pumping costs and the higher the level of energy subsidy. has provided central loan assistance to states since 1997. The
This has become a vicious cycle and abrupt subsidy rate of creation of irrigation potential per year has increased
reduction is not feasible, especially as the power supply is to 0.92 Mha during the period 1997–2005 from the earlier
unreliable and irregular and farmers would not agree to 0.51 Mha during the period 1951–97. This scheme has
pay for what is renowned to be poor service (Box 7.1.1). supported 173 major and medium, 4169 minor, and 21

Box 7.1.1
Water and Energy Use in Groundwater Irrigated Agriculture: Case Study of the
BESCOM Doddaballapur Substation Feeder Line DF 12 and DF 13 Service Area

BACKGROUND
The objective of the Water and Energy Nexus (WENEXA) Project is to identify measures for reducing adverse impacts of inadequate
power pricing and distribution on use of water in the agricultural, municipal, and industrial sectors. The Project is a four-year initiative
financed by the United States Agency for International Development/India (USAID/India), implemented under contract by PA
Government Services, Inc. Under the auspices of the USAID and the Ministry of Power, GoI, the WENEXA Project selected
Doddaballapur Taluk of Bangalore Rural District, Karnataka, for a site-base activity in groundwater irrigated agriculture. The area is
defined as the Bangalore Energy Supply Company (BESCOM), Doddaballapur Subdivision, Feeder Lines DF 12 and 13 service area.
The Doddaballapur Subdivision 11 kV Feeder lines, DF 12 and DF 13, originate from the 66/11 kV D-Cross Substation. They
serve 26 revenue villages and fall within the jurisdictions of five Gram Panchayats: Melekote, Heggedehalli, Rajagatta, Konagatta and
Tubagere. The area is located in the upper catchments of the Arkavathy River of the Kundanvathy watershed, although little of the
stream flows provide irrigation water to the farms in this region. Between 1971 and 2004, the average groundwater depth declined
from 64.5m to 184m. The Department of Mines and Geology recently classified this area as an overexploited groundwater region.
The area includes 3500 households and a population of approximately 17,000 people. Almost all households rely on agriculture as
a source of livelihood. The reported annual average income here is Rs 29,000.6 Six hundred and fifty-three borewell farms fall within
the DF 12 and DF 13 service area, where forty crops are cultivated on a net sown area of 2500 acres. 50 per cent of the area is rainfed
and the rest irrigated.7 Groundwater is the primary source of irrigation water8 with an estimated total annual water use of 5.8 million
cum. Two crops, mulberry and grapes, account for 66 per cent of the total use.
Subsidized power is a key issue for the electric distribution company struggling to meet demand for electricity to pump water in
this highly subsidized loss sector. Improvements in energy efficiency could reduce utility losses, but upgrading the distribution system
to provide consistent, high-quality electric service is a necessary pre-condition. However, distribution investments have not yet been
made and voltage fluctuations of this area commonly lead to pumpset motor burnout.
Electricity tariffs for irrigation pumpsets in Karnataka are flat HP-linked, supplied to farmers at zero-marginal cost, and do not
cover the cost of supply. Furthermore, the bill payment rate in this area is quite low. Thus, energy efficiency is rarely a factor in
pumpset purchases. Three-phase power is typically supplied for only eight hours a day. Use of converters to run three-phase pumpsets
on single-phase power for longer hours is not uncommon. Poor quality of service and highly subsidized power tariffs lead farmers of
this area to pump when power is available rather than applying water according to crop water needs. As a result, over-watering takes
place. In some cases, twice the amount of water than is necessary is used to optimize crop yields.9
Farmers naturally behave in an economically rational manner in response to the realities created by well-meaning but dysfunctional
policies. Since electricity is cheap, they use large amounts of it. And since poor quality power ruins high efficiency pumps, they use
rugged, low cost but very inefficient pumps. The perverse result is a system that induces the wasteful consumption of two precious
resources: water and energy.

6Institute for Youth and Development. WENEXA Secondary Data irrigation water use in past years, with the onset of a multi-year drought,
Collection for Doddaballapur Subdivision Feeder Lines DF 12 and tank-fed irrigation is rarely practised.
DF 13. 2005. 9University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. WENEXA
7Institute for Youth and Development. WENEXA Water and Energy Technical Report No. 7. Detailed Project Report: Irrigation Efficiency
User Survey for Doddaballapur Subdivision Feeder Lines DF 12 and DF in Groundwater Irrigated Agricultural for the BESCOM Doddaballapur
13. 2006. www.waterandenergynexus.com Subdivision Feeder Line DF 12 and 13 Service Area. 2006.
8Although tank-fed irrigation constituted 15 per cent of the www.waterandenergynexus.com
 Irrigation and Water Resources 187

INVESTMENTS IN ENERGY AND IRRIGATION WATER USE EFFICIENCY

The WENEXA Project conducted studies to identify investments for improving energy and water use efficiency. A GIS-based pumpset
inventory identified 950 irrigation pumpsets connected to the feeder lines, of which only 663 are operational. Borewell failure is the
primary reason for the non-operation of the remaining 287 pumpsets. Because groundwater depths here average 150 m, all of the
pumpsets in use are submersible. The average pumpset capacity is 9 HP, and ranges from 3–15 HP. The average pumpset operates for
2000 hours per year.
An energy audit of a 10 per cent sample of the functioning pumpsets showed that 91 per cent operate with efficiency of less than
30 per cent. A network survey determined the voltage profile on both feeder lines which was found to be, in most areas, inadequate to
support the quality of power needed for the operation of pumpsets meeting Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications. A
groundwater availability map was developed to predict borewell failure risks.
Replacing inefficient pumpsets with efficient pumpsets has the potential for reducing electricity consumption along the two feeders by
an estimated 45 per cent. Based on the data, it was determined that the current annual power consumption of irrigation pumpsets
connected to DF 12 and DF 13 is estimated at 9.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh). With replacement of 601 pumpsets operating at less
than 30 per cent efficiency10 the annual power consumption is estimated at 5.3 million kWh, resulting in an annual energy savings of 4.9
million kWh. The monetized value of the savings based on the raw purchase price of Rs 2.5/kWh is Rs 110 lakh. The investment cost for
replacement of approximately 601 pumpsets at Rs 40,000 per pump is approximately Rs 286 lakh, assuming a 10-year pumpset life
expectancy and a 10 per cent interest rate. The payback period based on energy saving benefits that accrue to the power sector is roughly
2.6 years.11 The payback period for pumpset replacement based on savings to farmers on pumpset repair and maintenance resulting from
necessary power system upgrades, is estimated at 14 years—not a bankable investment for farmers in this highly subsidized sector.
Shifting from flood to drip irrigation has the potential for reducing total annual groundwater use by 42 per cent and for further
reducing annual power consumption by an additional 20 per cent. The findings indicate that drip technologies are suitable for 53 per
cent of the total net sown area currently under flood irrigation. This investment would result in an estimated annual water savings of
approximately 2.2 million cubic metres of water and 2.0 million kWh of electricity per year. The estimated amortized cost of drip
irrigation is Rs 150 lakh, assuming a 10 per cent interest rate. The annual on-farm gains due to yield increases are estimated at Rs 250
lakh per year. The value of the energy savings based on the raw tariff of Rs 2.5 is Rs 50 lakh annually. The payback period for the drip
investment is 0.6 years for mulberry, 1.2 years for grapes, and 0.6 years for other horticultural crops.12 Shifting from rainfed irrigation
to drip irrigation should be discouraged to ensure that benefits resulting from a shift from flood to drip irrigation are not lost through
a net expansion in irrigated area.
The findings above indicate that an overall investment of Rs 43.6 million for energy efficient pumping systems and drip irrigation
technologies within the DF 12 and DF 13 service area could result in annual benefits of approximately Rs 410 lakh per year. Rs 250
lakh in benefits would accrue to farmers as increased farm incomes, and Rs 160 lakh could accrue to the power sector as loss reduction
resulting from energy savings. This is in addition to an un-quantified benefit due to water savings of 2.2 million cubic meters per year
that could improve village water supplies and ensure water availability for future use.

PUMPSET REPLACEMENT PILOT STUDY

The WENEXA Project conducted a controlled pilot to pre-test various aspects of investments in energy efficient pumpsets and drip
irrigation systems. The pilot was designed to explore the following parameters:
The impact of installation of energy efficient pumpsets in the absence of improved network voltage;
1. Responsiveness of farmers to energy efficient pumps;
2. Potential reduction in energy consumption;
3. Responsiveness of farmers to drip irrigation technologies; and,
4. Potential reduction in water consumption.
Fifteen farm households from the DF 12 and DF 13 service area agreed to participate in the WENEXA pilot programme where a
new energy efficient pumpset was installed in exchange for each farm shifting at least one acre of flood irrigated area into drip
irrigation. All of the original fifteen pumps were oversized pumps and only three met BIS specifications. The average age of the
pumpsets was two years. Pump motors were generally repaired at least once a year because of severe fluctuations in voltage. All fifteen
farms used flood irrigation and planned to shift grapes, mulberry, and sapota into drip irrigation.

10Pumpset retrofication was considered as an option. However, for the BESCOM Doddaballapur Subdivision Feeder Line DF 12 and
because of the depth to groundwater in this area, this option is at least DF 13 Service Area. 2005. www.waterandenergynexus.com
as expensive as pumpset replacement. Furthermore, there is no way to 12University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. WENEXA

control rates of discharge which could exacerbate the groundwater Technical Report No. 7. Detailed Project Report: Irrigation Efficiency
overexploitation. in Groundwater Irrigated Agricultural for the BESCOM Doddaballapur
11International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC). WENEXA
Subdivision Feeder Line DF 12 and 13 Service Area 2006.
Technical Report No. 4. Detailed Project Report for Pumpset Efficiency www.waterandenergynexus.com
188 India Infrastructure Report 2007

With pumpset replacement, the average pumpset capacity was reduced by 2 HP, the average number of pumpset stages was increased
from 18 to 21, and the average depth where pumps were seated in the wells declined from 156.3m to 152.1m—all factors contributing
to improved energy efficiency. Power consumption and water discharge measurements were taken prior to de-installation of the old
pumpsets, at installation of the new pumpsets, and six-months after operation of the new pumpsets. The combined total power demand
of the old pumps was measured at 71,782 watts. The combined total power demand of the 15 replacement pumps at installation was
measured at 51,559 watts, and was measured at 55,334 watts after six-months of operation. Water discharge rates of the new pumpsets
remained essentially unchanged from that of the old pumpsets. Within six months after installation, two of the new pumpsets were
returned for repair as a result of frequent voltage fluctuations. Within nine-months of installation six farms were reporting pump burnout.13
The use of energy efficient, right-sized pumpsets, in conjunction with drip irrigation systems resulted in an overall 70 per cent
reduction in energy consumption and a 60 per cent reduction in water consumption, as compared to that of the inefficient, oversized
pumpsets used with flood irrigation. These estimates were calculated using measurements of pumpset consumption and water discharge
discussed above, and self-reporting data from farmers on the number of pumping hours per week with the old and new pumps.
Findings indicate that on average, annual energy consumption using inefficient pumpsets with flood irrigation practice is 16,500
kWh/pump/year, with an average of 3446 pumping hours/pump/year. Energy efficient pumpsets used with drip irrigation systems
consume on average 4740 kWh/pump/year with an average of 1269 pumping hours/pump/year. The annual overall water consumption
for all fifteen farms using flood irrigation was estimated at 332,782 cubic metres per year. Water consumption using drip irrigation is
estimated at 130,439 cubic metres per year.
All of the participating farm households express a high level of satisfaction with the drip irrigation systems, two-thirds report
satisfaction with the replacement pumpsets, and all express dissatisfaction with the network voltage and hours of supply. Some report
use of single phase converters as a coping strategy to address inadequate power supply.14

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The WENEXA Project proposes investments in energy efficient pumpsets and drip irrigation systems that have the potential for
reducing power consumption of the Doddaballapur Subdivision Feeder Lines DF 12 and 13 service area by as much as 65 per cent,
and reducing water use by 42 per cent. The pumpset replacement pilot confirms these findings and empirically demonstrates that
shifting to energy efficient pumping systems in conjunction with use of drip irrigation systems can reduce energy use by 70 per cent
and water use by 60 per cent. The proposed investments are highly-bankable. The payback period to the energy sector for the pumpset
replacement investment is 2.5 years based on the value of energy savings. The payback period among farm households that invest in
drip irrigation is 1.2 years or less, based on increased incomes due to improved crop yields.
With six of the fifteen newly installed energy efficient pumpsets burning out within a nine-month period, it is clear that without
simultaneous investments in network system upgrades, voltage fluctuations will reduce pumpset life expectancy well below the ten
years that the analysis assumes. This would increase the payback period for pumpset investments and affect project bankability.
Therefore, investments in network system improvements that provide adequate quality of power are a necessary condition for water
and energy demand side management programmes for groundwater irrigated agriculture.

Extension, Renovation and Modernization (ERM) projects Of these 10 million ha, 4.2 million ha is through
till 2005. completion of major and medium irrigation projects and 2
As a response to the gap between the existing irrigation million is through enhanced utilization of completed
and ultimate irrigation potential the government has proposed projects. So more than 60 per cent of additional potential
a time bound plan for rural infrastructure for the year 2005– is gained through improved efficiency of on-going and
9 under Bharat Nirman.15 The Ministry of Water Resources completed works. New projects would, therefore, account
in collaboration with state governments is responsible for the for only 3.8 million ha out of which 2.8 million comprise
creation of additional 10 million ha of irrigation capacity by groundwater irrigation. The groundwater irrigation will
the year 2009 through major, medium and minor irrigation largely be concentrated in the eastern regions of the country.
projects complemented by groundwater development. In addition to the Bharat Nirman the Ministry of Water
Resources has also launched a national project for Repair,
13Institute for Youth and Development. WENEXA Quarterly Renovation and Restoration of waterbodies directly linked
Report. June 2006. to agriculture.16 This scheme, started in 2004–5, a pilot scheme
14PA Government Services, Inc. WENEXA Technical Report No. 8.
in sixteen districts of the country, will now be expanded to
Case Study on Pumpset and Irrigation Efficiency in Groundwater Irrigated
other districts.
Agriculture—BESCOM’s Doddaballapur Subdivision Feeder Line DF
12 and DF 13 Service Area. 2006. 2006. www.waterandenergynexus.com
15http://www.bharatnirman.gov.in/ 16http://wrmin.nic.in/
 Irrigation and Water Resources 189

In addition, there are many projects funded by the World The irrigation departments have little accountability to
Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Commission, the farmers they serve. Farmers have little say over the works
Overseas Economic Cooperation, Japanese, French, Dutch, carried out on their irrigation system and cannot influence
Canadian and German assistance in many states like Andhra the quality of the work and therefore, the system performance.
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Because of these weak institutional linkages, merely increasing
Nadu, Kerala, and Maharashtra. These schemes largely focus water rates will do little to improve O&M rates. Increased
on increasing efficiency and utilization of existing projects O&M rates do not necessarily mean a proportionate
through repairs and replacements of existing irrigation schemes, improvement in quality of work and system performance.
rather than creating new irrigation potential. Besides, since O&M budgets are largely spent on staff costs
in the irrigation institutions, it would be difficult for the
farmers to understand why they should pay more even if water
SURFACE IRRIGATION: IS MORE MONEY THE ANSWER? rate recovery was linked to the O&M costs budgeted by the
Need for Institutional Reform irrigation institutions.
All this has led to lack of funds for repairs and maintenance,
The poor performance of the irrigation system and poor leading to a decline in the quality of infrastructure and poor
quality of infrastructure is assumed to be the result of irrigation service to the farmer. Therefore, the story of the
inadequate funding. It is assumed that because rates are low, surface irrigation sector has largely been ‘Build-Neglect-Rebuild’
there are inadequate funds for Operations and Maintenance and pouring more funds will improve things only partially.
(O&M) which cause poor quality of services leading to Figure 7.1.3 describes the political economy analysis of the
farmer dissatisfaction and consequently, poor recoveries. This irrigation system and recommends that only a comprehensive
vicious cycle is not broken in most states17 and, therefore, reform process will help to improve the performance of the
the irrigation infrastructure and services are of a poor quality. irrigation sector.
Therefore, there is an assumption that increasing water rates
would be the single step leading to improvement in the
irrigation system performance. But the problem is more Agency Poor system Direct Link
incentives performance Weak Link
complex than that. Irrigation sector performance is largely No Link
linked to the quality of services provided by the irrigation
institutions,18 and since there is no incentive to improve
performance (or disincentive against poor performance)
irrigation departments are not affected by the increased water Underfunding Farmer
O&M dissatisfaction
rate. Therefore, merely increased water rates would not
substantially change the performance.
The decision on water rates is not merely based on the Fiscal crisis Farmer
of the state political
O&M costs but is largely a political decision. There are only Low fee payment lobby
a few states which have increased their water rates, and in some
states like Punjab, the rates were revised downwards after the Increasing Low cost
Low irrigation
change in government. However, there are many reform- irrigation recovery rates
costs
oriented state governments like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,
and Gujarat which have increased their water rates annually Fig. 7.1.3 Political Economy of Irrigation System
to reach the stage wherein they can cover their costs.
There is also no structured link between water recovery Source: Gulati et al. (2005).
and O&M costs. In most states, water rate recovery is done
by the Revenue Department and goes straight to the treasury,
while O&M costs are part of the budget allocation. Since each Reforms Agenda
system is not treated as a cost centre, the irrigation staff has Participatory Irrigation Management(PIM)
little incentive to improve water rate recovery and farmers
also consider the water rate as a tax rather than a user charge Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) or Irrigation
which is linked to the maintenance of their system. Management Transfer (IMT) is an approach of surface irri-
gation management wherein the management of the canal
17Water rates for surface irrigation systems are decided by the state system is gradually handed over to the farmers in the com-
government. mand area. This approach is based on the belief that farmers
18Most states have an Irrigation or Water Resource Department. have most to gain from improved irrigation services and hence,
190 India Infrastructure Report 2007

if they govern the irrigation systems, then the irrigation institu- COMMUNITY-BASED WATERSHED PROGRAMME
tions would be more accountable.
Water user associations are promoted and facilitated to Irrigation has been the engine of economic growth in most
take over the management of canal systems. Notable success rural areas and hence, ground water irrigation, largely financed
has been achieved in many places (Joshi, 1997). However, by farmers, has been growing at a rapid rate in the country.
many researchers feel that despite being tried out for so long, India has the highest annual extraction, 150 million cubic
the results are not substantial. In India, Andhra Pradesh was metres, in the world. However, the surface irrigation (major
the first state to pass a PIM Act, i.e. an Act by which all and medium) and groundwater irrigation have left out many
irrigation systems were to shift to a PIM approach. Rajasthan regions of the country where there is no irrigation. Two-third
and Madhya Pradesh are among the other states which have of the unutilized irrigation potential is in the eastern part of
also passed an Act, while Gujarat and Maharashtra are two the country—Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Eastern UP,
states where the Irrigation Departments and NGOs have and West Bengal—which also happen to be the ‘poorest’
demonstrated successful pilot projects and scaled up PIM regions of the country. With declining growth of agriculture
through a number of government resolutions. and food grain production which is not keeping pace with
What PIM does is to try and empower the users to take population growth rate, enhancing agricultural productivity
decisions on the management of their system. Since this in these areas is of critical importance.
requires the irrigation bureaucracy to hand over some of these Increased agriculture productivity requires increase in water
powers to the farmers (of whom earlier they were patrons), and land productivity. While the irrigation sector provides water,
progress has been painstakingly slow and, more the result of the watershed programme focuses largely on land productivity
rare initiatives of individual officers or a few Water Users and soil erosion. Increasingly, it also leads to development of
Associations (WUAs) than a policy shift across the board. small irrigation infrastructure. The watershed approach originates
However, wherever there is political will behind this paradigm from the earlier efforts to reduce soil erosion and increase land
shift, as was the case in Andhra Pradesh, results have been productivity undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture. In
apparent. PIM is as much a process of empowerment of the early 1980s, experiences of community involvement for
farmers and letting go of ‘state power’ as a means of irrigation treating watersheds showed success (Sukhomajri in Haryana,
management, and therefore, suffers from all the delays Ralegaon Sidhi in Maharashtra) and an Integrated Watershed
of ‘empowering’ processes. While PIM alone may not be Development approach was taken up under the Ministry of
the ‘magic pill’ which works fast, in the absence of a Agriculture and Ministry of Rural Development. Besides this,
comprehensive reform of the irrigation institutions, it is a many NGOs had piloted successful models of community-based
small step towards ‘liberalizing’ the irrigation sector from the watershed development in the country. The major advantages
irrigation bureaucracy. For PIM to work, it has to be a part of the watershed approach are reducing soil erosion, in-situ
of the overall reform which includes water entitlements and moisture conservation, generation of biomass, and increased
accountable irrigation service agencies. groundwater recharge as well as low costs of irrigation.
Just like other sectors the irrigation sector also suffers from For the irrigation sector, the watershed programme provides
the lack of an independent regulatory authority. In surface three major advantages:
irrigation systems, the government is the service agency and 1. It reduces siltation of the large dams by soil conservation
the regulator. This leaves the farmers with limited options to in the upper catchments. For surface storage dams,
demand better services. Unfortunately, there is a vicious siltation is a key problem as it reduces the storage capacity
cycle here; since services are subsidized, farmer users do not and hence, life of the dam (MoRD, 2006). The Inter
demand better services and since the services are poor, there Ministry Task Force on large reservoirs has pointed out
is resistance when user charges are raised and subsidy reduced. that large reservoirs have lost over 33 per cent of their
Maharashtra has recently taken a bold step in resolving this storage capacity due to siltation. This reduces the area
by setting up the Maharashtra Water Regulatory Authority under irrigation over time. The life of many large dams
(Rastogi, 2006). has decreased as actual siltation rates are much more than
The Irrigation reforms, because they involve decisions on estimated. Hirakud Dam has siltation 2.5 times the rate
substantial resources, will have to be led by the political assumed, reducing the expected life by half (Planning
leadership. In states like Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, Commission, 2002).
the then Chief Ministers led the reform agenda. A similar 2. Watershed treatment helps in recharging the local aquifers
political will is required at the national and state level if the and makes investments in groundwater irrigation by farmers
irrigation sector has to be improved. more viable.
 Irrigation and Water Resources 191

3. Watershed treatment provides a low cost decentralized Rs 4000 per ha. Till date the area covered under watershed
option to rainfed remote villagers that are not part of any programme (under Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry
irrigation schemes and do not have access to power and of Agriculture, externally aided projects and so on) has been
capital to scale up groundwater irrigation. A large number 45.58 million ha at a cost of Rs 17,037.42 crore. However,
of small water harvesting structures (check dams, gabions, the recent report of the Technical Committee on Watershed
farm ponds, village tanks) are constructed or rehabilitated Programmes in India feels that the unit cost is inadequate
under the watershed programmes which provide much and recommends an investment of Rs 12,000 per ha so that
needed ‘life-support’ irrigation to kharif crops. there is substantial increase in the water harvested and the area
The International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid irrigated (MoRD, 2006). The Committee recommends an
Tropics (ICRISAT) analysis of 311 watershed programmes finds outlay of Rs 150,000 crore to treat 125 million ha at a unit
that soil loss reduced by 0.82 tonnes/ha/year, irrigated area cost of Rs 12,000 per ha. Since the annual outlay is hardly Rs
increased by 34 per cent, cropping intensity increased by 64 2300 crore, it is suggested that by diverting funds from the
per cent, there was additional employment of 182 person National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, where focus
days/ha/year, and the benefit to cost ratio was 2.14 (MoRD, and coverage area is the same as that for watershed programme
2006). There are individual studies which show that water planning, the current programme outlay can be doubled to Rs
levels have risen by 10 per cent in Andhra Pradesh. Watershed 5000 crore and the watershed work on 125 million ha can be
programme is also an effective drought coping intervention, accomplished by 2020.
as the study done by Development Support Centre shows
that villages which have had watershed treatment have more
food and water security during drought years than villages
THE RAIN WATER HARVESTING MOVEMENT
without watershed treatment (MoRD, 2006). The success of the decentralized water harvesting structures in
the watershed programme has led to increased focus on water
harvesting in all the states. While Gujarat state has a high
Reforms in the Watershed Sector
profile ‘Sardar Patel Jal Sanchay Yojana’, Madhya Pradesh has
Learning from the success of community-based watershed a ‘Jalabhishek Yojana’ and Rajasthan has a ‘Jalbiradari’ scheme.
projects, the MoRD launched the ‘common guidelines’, bringing In all these states (water scarce regions) the Chief Ministers
together five different programmes of the Ministry of Rural personally spearhead the programmes. There is a huge publicity
Development, namely, Drought Prone Area Programme, Desert campaign and mass awareness campaign approaches (padayatra
Development Programme, Integrated Wasteland Development and so on) are used as a means of communication. All the political
Programme, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, and Employment Assurance leaders in these states give priority to these programmes, and
Scheme in 1994. These common guidelines were unique in the ‘schemes’ are part of the election manifestos and self-
many ways with assured funding for four-five years directly at promotions campaigns of all political parties. What appeals
the village level, involvement of NGOs, and a high emphasis to the political leaders is the relatively low cost, widespread
on capacity building of the community. These guidelines have appeal, the speed of implementation (relative to the huge
been modified in 2003 and issued as ‘Guidelines of Hariyali’ time and cost-over-runs of the major and medium irrigation
with a greater involvement of village panchayats. Recently, schemes) and the fact that community participation is relatively
the Government of India appointed a Technical Committee easy and visible. These small water harvesting structures are
on Watershed Programmes and its latest report provides new largely win-win, that is, with no problems of land acquisition,
directions to the watershed programme. This report, titled submergence and so on. Being small and technically simple,
‘From Hariyali to Neeranchal,’ argues the case for a greater village communities also feel confident about implementing
investment and scaling up of the watershed programme and a such schemes with little external support (Box 7.1.2).
comprehensive instituitional reform to enable the government In many other states (such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
to operationalize the participatory guidelines (MoRD, 2006). and Uttaranachal) there is a special, high profile water harvesting
movement which has been launched and prioritized by the
incumbent Chief Minister. If there is one ‘rural irrigation’
Financing the Watersheds
programme which has caught the imagination of the current
In terms of costs, while there is community contribution in political leaders, it is this approach of a large number of small
terms of labour and supervision (in most projects the users water harvesting structures (as opposed to a few large dams
themselves are involved in the implementation of the of the 1960s). For modern India, a large number of small
programme), the government investment till date has been check dams is definitely a better option of delivering results
192 India Infrastructure Report 2007

Box 7.1.2
Check Dam Programme of Gujarat

Gujarat has one of the largest community based check-dam programmes in the country. After the drought of 1999, young men of
Khopala, a village in water scarce Saurashtra, grew tired of the poor agriculture productivity due to water shortage and decided to
try and solve their problem themselves instead of waiting for a government scheme. They collected money from within the village
and from those who had migrated to urban areas (many of whom were diamond merchants in Surat). With community labour and
native intelligence, they constructed 200 check dams, small and large, in a six month period before the monsoons. The water
harvested during monsoon transformed the village economy, increasing the area under irrigation and improving the availability of
drinking water.
Other nearby villages emulated the example, and village and local leaders spread the message of self-reliance and water harvesting
through water-walks (jal yatra) in nearby blocks and districts. NGOs working in the region sent thousands of villagers for an exposure
visit and the message spread quickly. Religious leaders, regional media also took up the campaign. Soon this became a mass movement
which attracted thousands of villagers to the simple idea of becoming self-reliant by harvesting water.
The Government in tandem with the mood of the masses developed an easy-to-access scheme called the Sardar Patel Participatory
Water Conservation Scheme. In this scheme, the government funded 60 per cent of the cost while the community contributed 40 per
cent through labour, material, and cash (it was changed to 80:20 scheme in 2005). In a display of rare political will, the irrigation
department was restructured to support this scheme which had very simple design parameters for the dams which could be replicated
by the community. Application procedure was simplified and approvals given with basic technical guidance. In Gujarat, since January
2000 which is when the Sardar Patel Participatory Water Conservation programme was launched, about 30,000 check dams have been
built up to 2003 (conversation with senior staff reveals that till 2006, almost one lakh check dams would have been constructed). The
average cost is about Rs 5 lakh and storage varies between 0.15 Mm3 to 0.35 Mm3.

within a five year term rather than the slow-moving, expensive Benefits of Micro-irrigation
and controversial ‘temples’ of the 1960s!
Though it is difficult to get a consolidated idea of the 1. The increase in yield for different crops ranges from 27
amounts invested by various states, Gujarat alone has invested per cent to 88 per cent and water saving ranges from 36
Rs 2 thousand crore in the ‘Sardar Patel Participatory Check per cent to 68 per cent vis-à-vis conventional flow irrigation
Dam Scheme’ and the ‘Sujalam Sufalam’ schemes over the systems (Phansalker and Verma, 2005).
last five years. 2. It enables farmers to grow crops which would not be
possible under conventional systems since it can irrigate
adequately with lower water quantities (Box 7.1.2).
MICRO-IRRIGATION 3. It saves costs of hired labour and other inputs like fertilizer.
Much of the debate and discussion in the irrigation sector has 4. It reduces the energy needs for pumping, thus reducing
been on increasing the supply of water to agriculture and this energy per ha of irrigation because of its reduced water
has led to bringing of more area under surface and groundwater needs. However, overall energy needs of the agriculture
irrigation. However, little attention has been paid to improving sector may not get reduced because most farmers use
the efficiency of irrigation, i.e., ensuring that there is ‘more the increased water efficiency to bring more area under
crop per drop’ of water. Agriculture data still measure irrigation.
productivity in kilos per ha even though in many areas the Conventional drip systems, which have been subsidized
scarce resource is water, not land. It is in this context that micro- by the government, use ‘drippers’ and have pressurized flow.
irrigation emerges as a potential answer to the problem of Their cost ranges from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 per ha and
increasing irrigated area with limited water resources available. the government subsidy (given to the drip company) ranges
As noted earlier, micro-irrigation comprises two from 30 per cent to 80 per cent.These systems have been
technologies—drip and sprinkler irrigation. Both of them save subsidized over the last two decades. Because of the high costs
conveyance losses and improve water application efficiency and complex subsidy procedures, most farmers, especially the
by applying water near the root-zone of the plant. Drip systems poor, have not been able to access this technology even though
convey water in small quantities through drippers/micro-tubes they, with their insecure water sources, stand to gain most from
while sprinklers are pressurized systems where a fountain or these. Hence an NGO, the International Development
spray of water is released by the sprinkler connected by pipes, Enterprise India (IDEI) has developed a low-cost drip irrigation
resulting in foliar irrigation. technology which costs much less than the conventional drip,
 Irrigation and Water Resources 193

Table 7.1.2
Yields and Water Use for Selected Crops under Conventional
and Drip Irrigation Systems in India
Yield (Quintal/Ha) Water Supplied (cm)
Crop Conventional Drip Increase Conventional Drip Saving
Banana 575.00 875.00 52% 176.00 97.00 45%
Grapes 264.00 325.00 23% 53.20 27.80 48%
Sugarcane 1280.00 1700.00 33% 215.00 94.00 65%
Tomato 320.00 480.00 50% 30.00 18.40 39%
Watermelon 240.00 450.00 88% 33.00 21.00 36%
Cotton 23.30 29.50 27% 89.53 42.00 53%
Chillies 42.33 60.88 44% 109.71 41.77 62%
Papaya 13.40 23.48 75% 228.00 73.30 68%
Source: Verma, 2004.

Box 7.1.2
Transformation of Tippehalli

In Tippehalli of Sangola block in Solapur district, from where the current phase of dramatic growth of low cost micro-irrigation has
begun, farmers had long given up cultivation of their own lands. The village is located at a relatively higher altitude on hard basalt. Their
wells have water that lasts barely 30 minutes of pumping for some eight months of the year, soils are gravel and thin. Farmers had given
up cultivation and had taken to migration for cane cutting as their principal source of livelihood. With the advent of micro-irrigation and
pomegranate cultivation, the village has seen the end of misery, forced migration and hunger. The crop can manage with little water
during prolonged summer months and the low cost drips help farmers stretch their limited water sources to save their plantations.

Source: Raina (2004).

Box 7.1.3
When do Subsidies lead to Market Creation?

We have mentioned earlier that sprinklers have followed a somewhat different trajectory compared to drip irrigation though only in a
few pockets of the country. Narsinghpur has seen a huge spread of sprinklers. Here the landscape is undulating, soils are alluvial and
dominant crops grown are leguminous pulse crops which cannot stand excessive flooding or waterlogging. Undulating farms make
gravity flow difficult while sprinklers have proved to be a boon. It should be noted that this ground situation enhancing suitability of
sprinklers in Narsinghpur district enabled the subsidy, initially offered on sprinklers, to kindle a huge interest in farmers and that led
to expansion of volume of sales of sprinklers. Thus, even after the subsidy amounts were reduced, the market took off on its own. The
rise in volumes meant competition grew and product prices dipped bringing the technology within reach of a large number of farmers.
Even some poor tribal farmers adopted the technology.

Source: Rahul (2004).

is a divisible technology (the conventional drip has the major seven years, largely through a non-subsidized approach using
disadvantage of being available in large units, which are the market-based system of incentives and awareness.
expensive, unsuitable for small farmers and cannot be adopted With all these efforts by the government and social
on an incremental basis by farmers who first want to try out innovators like IDEI, there are still only 3 lakh users of drip
a new technology and then scale up). IDEI has three models in the country (covering about 250,000 ha of land) and the
which it has been promoting in the market for the last five to area under sprinklers is also only 700,000 ha. Considering
194 India Infrastructure Report 2007

that there are almost 20 million well owners, the potential of determined by demand for water rather than availability of
micro-irrigation is huge. The potential for drip ranges from water resources or government funds. However, the operational
10 million ha to 16 million ha (Phansalkar, 2004). Overall, costs of pumping out water have been subsidized through
drip systems cover 1.5 per cent of potential. The potential power subsidies, and these are substantial. The source is being
for sprinkler irrigation is about the same. over-exploited and many aquifers may not last unless there is
focus on management and regulation of use by the irrigation
sector. Watershed development, which enhances agricultural
Scaling up of Micro-irrigation
productivity in rainfed regions through soil and water
If the micro-irrigation devices achieve their potential of about conservation, has done much to alleviate the problems in non-
20 to 30 million ha, and even if water savings are on an average irrigated regions. Watershed treatment recharges the groundwater
of 30 per cent, then an area of almost 6 million ha can come and reduces siltation of large dams.
under irrigation with almost no additional irrigation It is not possible to meet the challenge without substantial
infrastructure. Considering the huge subsidies required, both reforms in the irrigation institutions. The lessons of the last
under surface irrigation and groundwater irrigation for thirty years show that farmers increasingly want to manage
bringing an additional ha under irrigation, investing in micro- the irrigation services they avail of. The high private investment
irrigation is probably the most economical and environment in groundwater irrigation and substantial community
friendly option. If scaled up, this may prove to be the contribution in small water harvesting structures indicate the
technological breakthrough to address growing irrigation farmers’ willingness to invest in reliable, self-managed irrigation.
needs in a period of scarce resources. But there are many If they can get timely and reliable irrigation water and if there
reasons why drip is not expanding despite its many benefits. is transparency in the allocation and use of funds, they do
It is obvious that unless the government, financial institutions not mind investing their money and time in managing and
and NGOs devote quality human and financial resources, maintaining the irrigation systems. The irrigation institutions
scaling up may not occur (Phansalkar, 2004). and policy-makers also need to reduce their obsession with
the supply side approach and give attention to improving
irrigation efficiency.
WAY FORWARD Irrigation departments in many states are over-staffed and
The major challenge for the irrigation sector is to provide despite the increased role of ‘minor’ irrigation, have a larger
irrigation to rainfed areas, improve the quality of irrigation share of staff for major and medium irrigation projects.
to existing irrigated areas, and achieve both of these objectives Irrigation itself requires an understanding of agriculture,
without incurring the large human, financial, and environmental sociology, agriculture economics, and agriculture engineering.
costs of the past. Most irrigation departments are overwhelmingly staffed by
The displacement costs to rural livelihoods, especially tribal civil engineers whose core competence is in constructing large
livelihoods, because of large surface irrigation infrastructure dams and canals. Therefore, there is a need for a major shift
have been huge and before new projects are initiated, the in the existing staffing profile of water resource development
country needs mechanisms to redress the sufferings of those departments so that their skill sets are relevant to the changing
affected by the large irrigation projects. These projects have needs. Institutional reforms are a must and the revised
high costs, both in terms of capital investments as well as repairs guidelines19 for the AIDP make ‘reforms’ a pre-condition for
and replacements, and existing budgetary outlays do not funding irrigation projects. The time is ripe for most institutional
match the needs. Operational costs are largely subsidized, and reforms, such that
the irrigation institutions are in a poor condition with few 1. Irrigation institutions reflect changing approaches and
linkages between water rates, recoveries, and system performance. technologies.
Therefore, major and medium surface irrigation systems have 2. Institutions focus not only on increasing the amount of
become increasingly unviable as capital, operational, and water available but improving the irrigation efficiency of
management costs rise with low contribution from users. the farmer so ‘there is more crop per drop’.
To look at the brighter side, many state governments have 3. Irrigation institutions are so structured and incentives
increased their water rates, increased the role of farmers in evolved such that there is a link between water rate, water
surface irrigation management through PIM and stopped recovery, and irrigation system performance. Only
recruitment to the irrigation departments. Groundwater when this is done can irrigation systems recover their
irrigation has proved the largest source of irrigation in the operational costs.
last two decades. Since the capital cost is mainly funded by
19 http://wrmin.nic.in/investement/aidp_guidelines.pdf
the farmers themselves, its rate of growth and spread has been
 Irrigation and Water Resources 195

4. The irrigation department, reduces its role in existing socio-geographical regions of the country. The government
irrigation substantially and hands over powers to farmers’ and all other agencies will have to evolve the best fit of
associations or any other alternative institutions (farmers, technology and in the institutional arrangements for the
entrepreneur and so on) which can take over the role of different regions of India. This is the key learning of all these
water distribution and management (after making sure that years, and therefore, to a large extent, the debate of choosing
the physical system is in a shape which needs management one approach to the exclusion of the others is irrelevant. In
and not extensive repairs!). India, there are many areas where reforms and innovations
5. Groundwater irrigation and other ‘minor’ irrigation get have been tried out successfully; Participatory Irrigation
the attention they deserve and water management rather Management in Andhra Pradesh, the participatory check dam
than development becomes the focus. scheme in Gujarat, the work done by NGOs in drought-
6. Tribal and other non-irrigated areas are served with prone and tribal areas in promoting water-harvesting, low-
irrigation technologies appropriate to their context. cost irrigation, and watershed treatment as well as low-cost,
No single approach to irrigation—surface irrigation, easy-to-use micro-irrigation devices, all offer lessons which
groundwater, or watershed—can be applied to the diverse can be scaled up.
196 India Infrastructure Report 2007

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‘Water Economy of India’, World Bank, Washington. Committee on watershed Programmes in India, Department of
Bhattarai, Madhusudan, Randolph Barker and A. Narayanamoorthy Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development,Government
(2004a). Implication of Irrigation Multipliers for Cost recovery of India,New Delhi.
and Irrigation Finanacing, IWMI-TATA water Policy Programme. Phansalkar, Sanjiv (2004). ‘Private sector participation in Financing
Bhattarai, Madhusudan and A. Narayanamoorthy (2004b). Dynamic and Managing Surface Irrigation: Chasing a Mirage?’ Mimeo,
of Irrigation Impacts on Rural Poverty in India: Changes over International Water Management Institute.
time and across the States, IWMI-TATA Water Policy Programme. Phansalkar, Sanjiv and Shilp Verma (2005). Mainstreaming the
Chambers, Robert (1988). Managing Canal Irrigation, Oxford and Margins: Water-centric Livelihood Strategies for Revitalizing Tribal
IBH, New Delhi. Agriculture in Central India, Angus & Grapher, New Delhi.
D’Mello, Bernard (2002). ‘Environment Impacts of Large Dams’ in (2005). ‘Silver Bullets for the Poor: Off the Business Mark?’
3iNetwork, India Infrastructure Report 2002: Governance issues mimeo, International Water Management Institute.
for Commercialization, Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Planning Commission (2002). Tenth Five Year Plan, Planning
Debroy, Bibek and Laveesh Bhandari (2003). District Level Commission, New Delhi.
Deprivation in the New Millenium, Konark Publishers, Delhi Rahul, P.S. (2004). ‘Adoption of Sprinklers by Tribal Farmers in
Dougles, Merrey and Shrirish Banisker, (eds) (1997). Gender Analysis Narsinghpur district, MP’, paper prepared for Central India
and Reforms in Irrigation concepts, cases and gaps in Knowledge, Initiative, ITP, Anand.
International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka. Raina, R. (2004). Technological and Institutional Innovations: A Case
DSC (2003). ‘Proceedings of the ‘National Workshop on Tail-enders Study of Pommegranate Production and Marketing Report 021,
and other Deprived’, Development Support Centre, Ahmedabad. IDE India, New Delhi.
(2005). ‘Papers of regional workshop on Participatory Irrigation Rastogi, Anupam (2006). ‘The Infrastructure Sector in India 2005’
Management’, Development Support Centre, Ahmedabad. in 3iNetwork, India Infrastructure Report 2006: Urban Infra-
Falkenmark, M and G. Lindh (1974). ‘Impact of Water Resources structure, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
on Population’, submitted by the Swedish delegation to the UN Shah, Tushaar and Aditi Deb (2004). The Socio-ecology of Groundwater
World Population Conference, Bucharest, 19–30 August. in India, International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka.
Fernandes (1994). Development, Displacement and Rehabilitation in Tyagi, N.K. (1987). ‘Managing Salinity through Conjunctive use
the Tribal Areas of Orissa, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi. of Water Resources’, Ecological Modelling, 40:11–24.
Gulati, Ashok, Ruth Meinzen-Dick and K.V. Raju (2005). Institutional Vaidyanathan, A. (1994). Food, Agriculture and Water: Second India
reforms in Indian Irrigation, Sage Publications, New Delhi. Revisited, Institute of Development Studies, Madras.
IFPRI (1985). The IFPRI Annual Report 1985, International Ford Vasavada, Shilpa, (2000). ‘Women Irrigators and Participatory
Policy Research Institute, Washington. Irrigation Management Policy and Approaches to Mainstream
Joshi L. K., (1997). ‘Irrigation and its Management in India: Need Gender Concerns: Lessons from the Aga Khan Rural Support
for a paradigm Shift’, mimeo, National Workshop on Participatory Programme (India)’, mimeo, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme
Irrigations. (India).
Lant, Pritchett, (2002). ‘Where has all the Education gone?’ The World Verma S., S. Techpal and T. Jose (2004). Pep see System: Grassroot
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Marathe, Advaita,(2003). Gender and Participatory Irrigation London.
Management:The AKRSP(I) Experience,mimeo,The Aga Khan World Bank (2005). India’s Water Economy:Bracing for a Turbulent
Rural Support Programme (India). Future, World Bank, Washington.
 Irrigation and Water Resources 197

PART II INTER-BASIN WATER TRANSFER

N.K. Bhandari and N.S.R.K. Reddy

INTRODUCTION situations. Planners have long considered the merits of water

transfer mechanisms draining water from surplus areas to areas
The water resources projects are the closest to the hearts of of shortfall to redress the imbalance to an extent.
rural people. They are usually located/proposed in the gorge The population of the country in AD 2050 will be around
portions of river systems which are normally remote rural areas 1593 million for middle variant growth, as projected by
inhabited by tribal and other backward classes. These projects United Nations (2004 Revision) and corresponding foodgrain
transform regions, ushering in socio-economic development requirement will be about 450 million tonnes. Development
for the people. Interlinking of river projects is no different in of irrigation coupled with high yielding varieties of crops and
this regard. Rather, it can be visualized as conventional water increased use of fertilizers may possibly be the only strategy
resources project, extended in scope for development/benefit available to achieve the required level of production. Availability
of not only the surplus in-basin but also neighbouring water- of water for irrigation is thus critical to self-sufficiency in food.
short basins. Even today, the success of India’s agriculture is In-basin water resources development alone cannot increase
mostly dependent on rainfall, the prediction of timing and the irrigated area beyond certain limits. The ultimate irrigation
intensity of which has become an onerous task. Much of the potential that can be achieved from in-basin development is
rainfall pours in a few intense spells only during the four estimated to be around 140 million hectares. But, for achieving
monsoon months from June to September. Even this is not the food production level of about 450–500 million tonnes,
evenly distributed across the country. The basic philosophy it is imperative that an irrigation potential of at least 130 million
of the inter-basin water transfer is thus to correct the natural hectares for food crops alone and 160 million hectares for all
imbalances in the availability of water in different seasons and crops is created. One of the major strategies for achieving such
across different regions of the country. In this part, the National a massive increase in irrigation potential could be inter-basin
Perspective Plan for Water Resources Development being transfer of water.
pursued by the GoI is discussed in the context of its likely Many large towns and mega cities, particularly those
impact on India’s rural development. situated in water deficit river basins, are already facing shortages
in domestic and industrial water supply. In 1901, the urban
NEED FOR INTER-BASIN WATER TRANSFER population was about 26 million which was less than 11 per
cent of the total population. By 2001, the urban population
India receives on an average about 4000 billion cubic metres increased to 285 millions (28 per cent of the total population)
(bcm) of precipitation every year. More than half of this with 35 urban agglomerations/cities having a population
quantity is lost to the atmosphere or through deep percolation of more than one million. It has been projected that by the
and only about 1869 bcm flow in the rivers as surface flow. year 2050, urban population in India of 820 million would
This is estimated to be the water resources potential of the constitute nearly 50 per cent of the total population. As the
country. Approximately 690 bcm of surface water and 432 economic condition of the people improves, the per capita water
bcm of groundwater are available for use per year through demand will also grow. Meeting the water requirement of large
conventional water resources development strategies. Nearly cities will be a challenging task. Traditional local sources of
60 per cent of the potential lies in the Ganga–Brahmaputra– water supply will no longer be sufficient to meet the water
Meghna system in the North. Another 11 per cent in the high needs of large cities. In many large cities like Mumbai, Delhi,
rainfall region of the Western Ghats flows through the small Hyderabad, and Chennai water demands are already being met
west-bound rivers draining into the Arabian Sea. Apart from through inter-basin transfer of water. For meeting the domestic
sundry sources, this leaves barely 19 per cent from all the other water requirements for the ever-increasing population in the
rivers put together including mighty rivers like Mahanadi, urban areas, long distance inter-basin transfers on large scales
Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery which flow east through may have to be resorted to in the future.
peninsular India towards the Bay of Bengal. These large variations Apart from large cities and towns, rural areas are also facing
in water availability are the basis for the flood–drought–flood problems with regard to domestic water supply, particularly
syndrome afflicting India with some areas suffering from flood during years of less than normal rainfall. During such years, the
damages, while some others battle acute long-run water shortage groundwater recharge is reduced, and the traditional groundwater
198 India Infrastructure Report 2007

source for meeting domestic water requirements are also Table 7.2.2
exhausted well before the onset of the next monsoon resulting Water Resources Scenario in India
in acute shortage of water, even for drinking purposes. A lasting 1. Average annual precipitation 4000 bcm
solution to meet the water requirements of such chronically (3000 bcm
watershort rural areas, towns and cities lying in water deficit during June–Sep)
river basins, is perhaps long distance inter-basin transfer of water. 2. Average runoff in all the rivers 1869 bcm
An important advantage of inter-basin water transfer 3. Utilizable surface water 1122 bcm
technology may lie in its applicability to the power sector. (i) By conventional means 690 bcm
The demand for power is growing at the rate of 9 per cent (ii) Replenishable groundwater 432 bcm
annually. The projected demand by the year AD 2050 would 4. Present utilization 605 bcm
be 8.3 million MW. Bulk of this power is expected to be sourced 5. Future demand by
AD 2025 1093 bcm
from coal-based thermal plants and the peaking power from
AD 2050 1447 bcm
hydel sources. The peaking power requirement from hydel
6. Possible additional water utilization 170–200 bcm
sources will be around 3.3 million MW against just 84,000 through Inter Basin Water Transfer
MW estimated hydro power potential of the country. It may, Scheme of GOI
therefore, be essential to develop the large power potential
Source: MoWR (2003).
available in Nepal and Bhutan as part of the Himalayan rivers
development component of the river linking project.
Peninsular Component
Different water demand scenarios up to the year AD 2050
as enumerated by Central Water Commission have been GA
L N
GH
PUT
RA
NI BA GA GOM AGRA GAN HMA
presented in Table 7.2.1. There will be a gap between the LU AM TI GA BRA
CH 11

N A
10 E

K
I

DH

KE TW
AT

RA
water availability and requirement by AD 2050 which cannot N
RM
SO

BE
ISIN

BA
SU DAM

PARBATI
BA MA

KAL
BE
possibly be met through conventional in-basin development
SA
A RN ODAR

WAINGANGA
NA R M A D HA
TAPI N AD AR
12 I EK
because of likely environmental, social, legal, or techno- PE
PAR GODA NGANGA
HA
13 VAR 1
MA I
economic constraints. Therefore, in order to bridge the gap,

GO
NE
KR R 3

DA
ISH
interbasin water transfer is being viewed as a viable alternative 2 4

VA
NA

IR
14
which would also take care of water-short areas including 6 7
5 PENN
drought-prone areas. The overall water resources situation in ARABIAN 15
CA PALA 8
AR BAY
SEA UV R OF
India is summarized in Table 7.2.2. ER
Y BENGAL
LAKSHDWEEP
16 9
VA ANDAMAN & NICOBAR
VA IGA
IPP I
Table 7.2.1 AR

Sector-wise Demand Scenarios of Water in India INDIAN OCEAN

Water Demand (bcm) in the year 1. Mahanadi (manibhadra)–Godavari (Dowlaiswaram)* 9. Cauvery (Kattalai)–Vaigai–Gundar*
2. Godavari (Inchampalli)–Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)* 10. Ken–Betwa*
Sector 2010 2025 2050 3. Godavari (Inchampalli)–Krishna (Pulichintala)* 11. Parbati–Kalisindh–Chambal*
4. Godavari (Polavaram)–Krishna (Vijayawada)* 12. Par–Tapi–Narmada*
1. Irrigation 688 910 1072 5. Krishna (Almatti)–Pennar* 13. Damanganga–Pinjal*
6. Krishna (Srisailam)–Pennar* 14. Bedti–Varda
2. Drinking (including livestock) 56 73 102 7. Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)–Pennar (Somasila)* 15. Netravati–Hemavati
3. Industrial 12 23 63 8. Pennar (Somasila)–Palar–Cauvery (Grand Anicut)* 16. Pamba–Achankovil–Vaippar*
* FR Completed
4. Energy 5 15 130
Fig. 7.2.1 Proposed Inter Basin Water Transfer Links
5. Others (Forestry, Pisciculture, 52 72 80
Tourism, Navigation and so on) Source: http://www.nwda.gov.in
Total 813 1093 1447
Peninsular Rivers Component
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE PLAN The scheme is divided into four major parts:

With a national objective of Water Resources Development 1. Interlinking of Mahanadi–Godavari–Krishna–

in view, the then Ministry of Irrigation (now Water Resources)
Pennar–Cauvery rivers and building storages at
formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) in August 1980.
The National Perspective Plan comprises two components, potential sites in these basins.
namely (i) Peninsular Rivers Development and (ii) Himalayan This involves interlinking of the major river systems where
Rivers Development. surpluses from the Mahanadi and the Godavari are intended
 Irrigation and Water Resources 199

to be transferred to Krishna, Pennar, and Cauvery rivers to The Peninsular rivers development is expected to provide
cater to the needs of the deficit areas in the south. additional irrigation of about 13 million hectare and generate
about 4 million kW of hydropower.
2. Interlinking of west-flowing rivers, north of
Bombay and south of Tapi Himalayan Rivers Component
This scheme envisages construction of as much optimal storage The Himalayan Rivers Component envisages construction
as possible on these streams and interlinking these storage of storages on the principal tributaries of the Ganga and the
facilities to make available appreciable quantum of water for Brahmaputra in India and Nepal, along with interlinking
transfer to areas where additional water is needed. The scheme canal systems to transfer surplus flows of the eastern tributaries
also provides for taking water supply canal to the metropolitan of the Ganga to the West, apart from linking main Brahmaputra
areas of Mumbai. and its tributaries with the Ganga and Ganga with Mahanadi.
This component will provide additional irrigation of about
22 million ha and generation of about 30 million kW of
3. Interlinking of Ken–Chambal hydropower, besides providing incidental flood control on
The scheme provides for a water grid for Madhya Pradesh, account of the storages proposed in the Ganga–Brahmaputra
Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh and an interlinking canal backed basin. It will also provide the necessary discharge for the
by as many storage facilities as possible. augmentation of flows at Farakka required interalia to
flush Kolkata Port and the inland navigation facilities across
the country.
4. Diversion of other west flowing rivers
The high rainfall on the western side of the Western Ghats Benefits
runs down into numerous streams which discharge into the
Arabian Sea. The construction of an interlinking canal system The National Perspective Plan in totality is planned to give
backed by adequate storages could be planned to meet all additional benefits of 25 million ha of irrigation from surface
requirements of Kerala as also for transfer of some water towards waters, 10 million ha by increased use of ground waters, to
the east to drought affected areas. raise the ultimate irrigation potential from 140 million ha
(expected through conventional means of development) to
175 million ha and generation of 34 million kW of power,
Himalayan Component
apart from the benefits of flood control, navigation, water
supply, fisheries, salinity and pollution control and so on.

NATIONAL WATER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

The National Perspective Plan was discussed with state govern-
GHAGRA

ments and the initiative taken by the Central Government for

AS
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5
KOS
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RD

6 1 optimal development of water resources in the country was

SA
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4
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SAN
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TRA welcomed. A National Water Development Agency (NWDA)

UNA

GA
NG 3 GH 2 APU
BAL A AG RAHM 11
NI M GOM RA GA 10 B
was set up in 1982 under the Ministry of Water Resources as
LU CHA TI NG
KE TWA

A
I
KALISINDH
AT

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an Autonomous Society to study the feasibility of the Penin-

NE
BE
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BA

9
PARBATI

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8 13D
BA

7 A 12
A 14 SUBE MOD sular Component of National Perspective Plan. Subsequently,
SA

MAD MAH
NAR ANAD
I
RN AR
AR
TAPI EK
HA as the studies progressed, in 1990–1, NWDA was entrusted
with the studies of Himalayan Component as well. Over the
1. Kosi–Mechi 8. Chunar–Sone Barrage
2. Kosi–Ghagra 9. Sone Dam–Southern Tributaries of Ganga years, NWDA has carried out extensive desktop studies that
3. Gandak–Ganga 10. Manas–Sankosh–Tista–Ganga are required in sequence to establish the feasibility of the
4. Ghagra–Yamuna* 11. Jogighopa–Tista–Farakka (Alternate) to MSTG
5. Sarda–Yamuna* 12. Farakka–Sunderbans
Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) programme viz. water balance
6. Yamuna–Rajasthan 13. Ganga (Farakka)–Damodar–Subernarekha studies of basins/sub-basins and at diversion points, toposheet
7. Rajasthan–Sabarmati 14. Subernarekha–Mahanadi and storage capacity studies of reservoirs, toposheet and pre-
* FR Completed
feasibility studies of links and finally came out with thirty
Fig. 7.2.2 Proposed Inter Basin Water Transfer Links proposals (16 Peninsular presented in Figure 7.2.1 and 14
Himalayan presented in Figure 7.2.2) for proceeding to
Source: http://www.nwda.gov.in establish their feasibility on ground. The feasibility reports of
200 India Infrastructure Report 2007

fourteen Peninsular links out of the sixteen identified have been Table 7.2.3
completed so far. All these studies are available on NWDA’s Foodgrain Production as per NCAER study (million tonnes)
website, www.nwda.gov.in. The feasibility studies of the Baseline With ILR programme
Himalayan links are currently underway on Indian territory. Expected % Expected %
Year Production increase Production increase
BENEFITS OF INTERLINKING OF RIVERS PROGRAMME: 2006–7 228.66 228.66
RURAL PERSPECTIVE 2007–8 234.72 2.65 234.72 2.65
2008–9 240.9 2.63 242.98 3.52
It is expected that the ILR programme will have a major impact 2009–10 247.13 2.59 254 4.54
on rural India in general, and agriculture-dependent households 2010–11 253.43 2.55 263.78 3.85
in particular. As the programme is still at a conceptual stage, 2011–12 259.77 2.50 273.51 3.69
these aspects are elucidated only at macro level considering 2012–13 266.17 2.46 289.81 5.96
mainly its quantifiable benefits in the form of increased 2013–14 272.62 2.42 323.59 11.66
irrigation, improved drinking and industrial water supply, 2014–15 279.12 2.38 360.54 11.42
and enhanced electricity generation. The overall effect of the 2015–16 285.68 2.35 376.21 4.35
project can be expected to be much wider and more diverse, 2016–17 292.29 2.31 381.47 1.40
when all the tangible and intangible benefits are duly assessed 2017–18 298.95 2.28 387.49 1.58
through micro level studies and realized. 2018–19 305.66 2.24 393.88 1.65
The Interlinking of Rivers Programme will have both short Average Growth 2.46 4.53
and long-term impact on the economy. The short-term impact (2006–7 to
of the link canal will be in the form of increased employment 2018–19)
opportunities and the growth of the services sector. Sectors Average Growth 2.43 4.87
(2008–9 to
supplying crucial inputs to the construction sector, such as
2018–19
cement, iron, and steel will also grow. In the medium to long
term, a major impact will be in terms of increased and assured
irrigation, power generation, domestic and industrial water production, the fertility of the lands may improve with
supply and associated development. irrigation development using surface water as well as recharged
groundwater. Thus, the possibility of waterlogging which
affects land productivity would be eliminated.
Irrigation
The National Perspective Plan will provide irrigation benefits
of 35 m ha in rural areas. The envisaged annual irrigation by
Rural Water Supply
the ILR project will be nearly 35–40 per cent of current irrigated The water supply situation is grim in rural areas. Womenfolk
area in the country and one can visualize the agro-economic have to walk for miles in search of drinking water, which is
and socio-economic benefits that could be derived. Rainfed often of poor quality. Link canals are so planned as to provide
and water stressed lands can be assured irrigation and increased water to both urban centres and rural areas in the command
yields. About 2.5 m ha of drought-prone lands spread across with special emphasis on rural drinking water provisioning.
several states are expected to be benefited from ILR Project. Right of access to clean water is linked with fundamental
According to a study carried out by National Council of right to life which the ILR aims to provide to common man
Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the expected foodgrain both in the cities as well as in the villages. In the inter-basin
production in the year 2018–19 will be about 394 million water transfer schemes, domestic and industrial water supply
tonnes subject to the implementation of ILR programme will account for nearly 12 bcm. About 101 districts and
(Table 7.2.3). The foodgrain productivity growth is not Greater Mumbai, NCR of Delhi, Chennai, Kanpur, Lucknow,
expected to vary far from the levels attained by conventional and other cities will benefit from the project. The intake
irrigation methods that is, 2.46 per cent after 2018–9 (post- structures, treatment plants, supply, and service lines will come
implementation of ILR programme). The country’s foodgrain up as part of infrastructure development in rural areas for
production can be expected to reach about 500 million tonnes assured potable water supply (Box 7.2.1).
by AD 2050. This will be sufficient to meet the foodgrain
requirement of the country’s population and India will be
able to maintain its self-sufficiency with respect to food.
Rural Electrification
A network of thousands of kilometres of link canals will Rural India suffers from power nonavailability, unreliability,
provide life lines for rural development. Besides food as well as quality issues. The total hydel power potential of
 Irrigation and Water Resources 201

Box 7.2.1
Drinking Water from Sardar Sarovar Project

The Government of Gujarat has developed a drinking water supply scheme based on Sardar Sarovar Project and it is the largest
engineering intervention in India’s rural water supply sector. The pipeline scheme, which is to cover 8215 villages when completed,
will cost Rs 8096 crore at 2001 price level. Rural water supply was first started in Gujarat with Saurashtra in 2001, while in Kachchh
it started in March 2003. The primary survey shows that 6 per cent of the villages of Gujarat (498 villages) included in the plan have
already started receiving water, of which 180 receive water regularly.
The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) is the ‘bulk supplier’ of Narmada water for drinking water supply. It
supplies water to Mahi Right Bank Canal (MRBC) Authority, Gujarat Water Infrastructure Limited (GWIL) and directly to industries
and municipal authorities. MRBC authority also supplies water to municipal bodies and industries. GWIL is the ‘bulk carrier’ of drinking
water. GWIL and Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) purchase bulk water from SSNNL. GWSSB is responsible for
implementation of the group distribution projects which connect to the bulk water pipeline projects for supplying water up to the
village level distribution systems. It is the ‘distributor’ of the drinking water supply. It looks after O&M of main pipelines with
pumping stations including filtration plants simultaneously with the execution of bulk water pipelines. It is also responsible for the
O&M of the head works and distribution networks.
Pani Panchayats are being created at village level for O&M of village level facilities with technical assistance from GWSSB. The
lowest level GWSSB functionary (line man/woman) is made a member of Pani Panchayat to share the O&M responsibility. These
Pani Panchayats have to generate funds to meet part of the O&M cost. Apart from that, creating awareness about the installation
of water meters to measure and control water use and water loss is one of the supportive roles envisaged to enhance water use
efficiency at the village level. This is a very important role that Pani Panchayats have to play. In addition to that, they have to
undertake many other functions such as creating awareness about health and hygiene among the villagers; keeping water structures,
their distribution network, and their surroundings clean; adopting waste water management practices; taking up environmental
sanitation programmes, and so on. Talati cum Mantri, a village level revenue officer cum secretary of Gram Panchayat will be
the secretary of Pani Panchayat. The secretary will have to work under the administration of Taluka Development Officer of the
state government.
Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO) is envisaged as a catalyst organization for implementation and
maintenance of village level drinking water distribution with active participation of village communities. NGOs are being involved to
facilitate the process of creating Pani Panchayats at the village level under the guidance of WASMO. Ultimately, Pani Panchayats are
responsible for supplying drinking water to individual households in project villages. Pani Panchayats also have to collect the water
charges from beneficiary households and have to pay their share of water charges to GWSSB on volumetric basis.
NGOs are also educating rural people on revenue generation at village level to compensate a part of the O&M cost. Despite all these
efforts villages are reluctant to adopt volumetric water supply. Water allocation norms are well defined. Though the pricing policy is
still evolving, there are clear indications that the water will be charged on volumetric basis and the rates will be far above the rates
prevailing in rural drinking water supply schemes. The proposed new rates almost double the existing rate in cities. Given the fact that
the economic cost of supplying water to these water starved regions is prohibitive, efforts to recover the cost, so as to make such
projects financially viable, are inevitable.
The capital expenditure for piped water supply is of the order of Rs 2.88 per thousand litre. Generally, urban water supply project
costs Rs.1.5–2.0 per thousand litre. Operational Expenditure (O & M Costs) are generally Rs 5 to 6 per thousand litre and in the
present case, it is about Rs.8.6 per thousand litre. The rural water supply projects are costlier than urban water supply projects because
rural population is more dispersed.
As water has started reaching villages, people in coastal villages of Saurashtra region have started growing trees using Narmada waters
with immense positive outcomes. These examples indicate that Narmada water supply has really become a lifeline for the people of Gujarat.

Source: Talati et al. (2004).

the interlinking system will be 34,000 MW. Obviously, this

Rural Industries
will help in the electrification of nearby villages. The
hydropower establishment in rural areas like power stations, Adequate provision has been made towards meeting the projected
sub-stations, supply, and distribution lines will be developed requirements of industries in the region from link canals.
for power distribution through grids. Further, power transmission Many agro-based and other industries may come up due to
losses will also be minimized when rural areas receive power reliable supplies of water from link canals and increased
from proximate power stations. agricultural activities in the region. Further, the ILR programme
202 India Infrastructure Report 2007

involves huge construction activity, which would include greater extent. More people will also be involved on a long
construction of dams/reservoirs, canals, control structures, term basis in the operation and maintenance of the link
road/rail bridges, and cross-drainage structures. This will have projects. Direct employment in the construction sector will
an impact on the industries supplying inputs for construction. grow by 22.74 per cent. Sectors such as coal tar products,
There will also be an increase in employment and thus on cement and electricity, gas and water supply will experience
demand for goods and services. The growth of the other higher growth of employment than the construction sector
sectors will depend on the strength of the backward linkages (NCAER, 2004). Total employment in economy would
(sectors supplying inputs to construction sector) and forward increase by nearly 4 per cent. Agricultural labourers are
linkages (sectors which are using output of construction sector generally under-employed and they too have an opportunity
as input) of the construction sector with the rest of the to engage themselves in production activities during the
economy. This would certainly have a triggering/multiplier lean season.
effect on the economy (Box 7.2.2).
Rural Tourism
Rural Employment
There are innumerable examples in India, like Krishnarajasagar,
The interlinking of rivers is a mega project involving Nagarjunasagar and so on where a dam/reservoir has become
construction activity for years. The local population is likely a recreation spot promoting tourism, water sports and the like
to get employment as skilled and unskilled labour in these in the region. The Interlinking of Rivers Project has the potential
activities. Further, avenues of employment will be there for to promote tourism on a large scale at its dam/reservoir sites,
the poor people due to the increased agricultural activities along canals and their confluence points which will yield
and ancillary industries in the regions. This may help in revenue for the country. As a corollary, this will also lead to a
socio economic upliftment of the project hinterland to a spurt of guest houses, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment

Box 7.2.2
Bhakra Dam

The Bhakra Dam is a majestic monument across River Sutlej. Its construction was taken up first after independence, for the welfare of
the people of Northern India. The construction of this project was started in the year 1948 and completed in 1963. The water stored
at Bhakra has a tremendous potential of generating hydroelectric power. There are two power houses, namely, Left Bank Power Plant
and Right Bank Power Plant. When Bhakra power houses were commissioned in 1969, total installed capacity in the entire country
was 14,102 MW and the hydro capacity was 6,135 MW. To this, one single project, Bhakra, added 1050 MW (only dam for power
houses) thus adding 7.5 per cent to the total capacity and 17 per cent to peak power capacity. The present installed capacity of the
Bhakra-Nangal system, including the Beas-Sutlej link is a mammoth 2267 MW. Hydro-electricity by itself is sufficient justification of
the project. Further, before Bhakra, the flood plains of Sutlej used to be 3 to 4 km wide. After Bhakra, the actual flood control offered
by the dam, even though not planned, resulted in people occupying the flood plains up to a km or so.
The project is a vital component in Beas–Sutlej link in combination with Indira Gandhi Nahar Project which is an outstanding
example of how the large inter-basin transfers brought about all round socio-economic growth with overall enhancement in the ecology
and environment of the region. Under the Indus Water Treaty, the water of three eastern rivers viz. Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi were
allocated to India. As the land to be benefitted in India lies mostly to the east and south of these rivers, the rivers had to be interlinked
and the water conveyed through canal systems for serving vast tracts of land. The main storage on Sutlej is at Bhakra, while that on Beas
is at Pong. Bhakra system provides irrigation to 26.3 lakh ha. of new area besides stabilization of existing irrigation of 9 lakh ha. A
diversion dam, Pondoh, 140 km upstream of Pong on the Beas, enables diversion of water from the Beas to the Bhakra reservoir and
generates 165 MW of power. Another dam on the Ravi namely, Ranjit Sagar dam will provide additional water to the Beas and will
generate power. Subsequently, it was decided to link the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project with the river systems to provide 9.36 bcm of water
to Rajasthan Canal for irrigating the areas of Thar Desert.
Transfer of surplus waters of Ravi, Beas and Sutlej to Rajasthan right up to Jaisalmer and Barmer through Indira Gandhi Nahar
Pariyojana has eliminated drought conditions, provided power benefits, transformed desert waste land into an agriculturally productive
area by bringing irrigation and vegetation to about 2 million hectare area. Contribution in agricultural production due to implementation
of the project is worth Rs 1,750 crores annually. The Indian military at the western boundary receive water from this canal. The
project has changed the living standard and socio-economic conditions of the people in the area beyond imagination.

Source: IWRS (2005).

 Irrigation and Water Resources 203

parks in the region. A list of proposed dams in the ILR Project Table 7.2.4
is given in Table A7.2.1 and Table A7.2.2. Comparative Growth Scenario
(Average Growth during 2006–7 to 2018–19, percentage)

Rural Services Sector With

ILR
Once the project is in place, the services sector will flourish Baseline Progr-
to meet the needs and demands of the people in the region. Variables Scenario amme
Establishment of health centres, schools, colleges, markets, Real GDP from Agriculture 2.27 3.92
community centres will take place. Rural health care, education, Real GDP from Mining and Manufacturing 9.35 9.86
and family welfare are bound to improve. Real GDP from Electricity, Gas, and 9.09 9.27
Water Supply
Real GDP from Construction 8.64 9.67
Rural Forestry
Real GDP from Transport, Storage, and 11.04 11.19
The ILR programme involves construction of about thirty- Communication
three major dams. The programme, therefore, proposes Real GDP from Services 12.52 12.69
afforestation as per GoI norms in lieu of the forest land that Real GDP at Factor Cost 10.13 10.50
may get submerged under these dams/reservoirs. But, contrary Fiscal Deficit of Central Government 3.53 3.95
to the opinion by many, all these dams are not exclusively WPI of Foodgrains 4.94 4.61
proposed for the ILR programme. A number of these dams WPI of Non-foodgrains 5.08 4.68
are already proposed by States and are likely to come up, WPI of Agricultural Commodities 5.05 4.66
even without the component of ILR. Only a few dams, not
WPI Manufactured Products 3.86 3.66
very huge, are specifically proposed where absolutely necessary
WPI all Commodities 4.67 4.47
and where there is no scope of integration of existing/proposed
CPI (Agricultural Labourers) 4.17 3.89
projects in the scheme. Nevertheless, in the long term, the
CPI (Industrial Workers) 5.10 4.82
rural forestry will improve on account of proposed afforestation
in double the likely submerged forest area. Also, plantations Production of Foodgrains 2.46 4.53
proposed along the sides of the link canals would be both, Production of Non-foodgrains 1.98 4.17
aesthetic as well as valuable for rural forestry. Source: NCAER (2004).

Rural Economy Table 7.2.5

Various aspects/parameters of ILR project
With assured water supply for irrigation, domestic, and
industrial use coupled with hydro power availability as well Sl.
as access to basic amenities, services, employment avenues, No. Item Size/Quantity
and infrastructural facilities, the rural economy is certain to 1. No. of Dams to be constructed 33
grow. The household per capita income in rural areas is expected 2. Length of the link canals (lined) 9,629 km
to grow faster than urban areas to reduce rural poverty rapidly. 3. Length of distribution network 12,468 km
Overall infrastructural development can be expected to escalate up to minors (lined)
rural land and property prices boosting the economy further. 4. Size of link canals Width varying from 3 m to
The local administration can generate additional revenue by 155 m and depth varying
way of property and land registration, mandi tax and so on. from 1.5 m to 10 m
The Comparative Growth Scenario of the country’s economy 5. Lining involved 737 million square meters
with and without ILR programme as per the study of NCAER 6. No. of canal structures 4,291
is presented in Table 7.2.4. 7. Cement required 56 million tonnes
An attempt has been made to quantify and aggregate the
8. Steel required 2 million tonnes
various aspects of the Interlinking of Rivers Project based on
9. Drinking water supply 101 districts and Greater
very rough calculations using the information compiled based
Mumbai, NCR of Delhi,
on pre-feasibility/feasibility studies of various link proposals Chennai, Kanpur,
carried out by NWDA which are given in Table 7.2.5. Lucknow, and other cities
The above table just gives an idea of the extent to which
10. Employment generation 58 lakh man years
the ILR project can impact the rural economy and transform
the rural livelihoods upon implementation. The list of link- Source: Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies of NHDA.
204 India Infrastructure Report 2007

wise districts which benefit from the project is presented in 4. Loss of biodiversity, particularly for threatened species,
Tables A7.2.3 and A7.2.4. endemic species of both animals and plants.
5. Adverse impact on migratory path of birds and corridor
loss for animals due to change of habitat.
ROADBLOCKS IN ILR 6. Resettlement and rehabilitation of lakhs of people and
The benefits enumerated above can only be reaped if the ILR its adverse socio-economic impact.
project is implemented in time and managed in an appropriate 7. Adverse impact on river hydrology and eco-system.
manner. The implementation of ILR programme is not going 8. Loss of vegetation due to siltation of dams.
to be a cakewalk. The many hurdles on the way include: arriving 9. Impact on aquatic aspects, particularly fisheries.
at consensus, addressing environmental concerns, sourcing 10. Contamination due to agro-chemicals and organics.
funds and so on. 11. Transfer of bad quality of water from one basin to another.
12. Measures to counter irrigation induced salinity, water
logging.
Consensus on ILR proposals
13. Groundwater pollution due to seepage from canal systems.
Ensuring consensus on ILR among the states is a complicated 14. Harnessing surface water alone is detrimental to
challenge. States have their own priorities in planning internal conjunctive use.
water resources which are not likely to be in unison with that of Minimizing the adverse impact on the environment has
other states. The conflicting interests of the basin states, target to be meticulously planned and EIAs drawn up. In this
states, and en route states are not easy to resolve. Therefore, direction, GoI constituted a committee of environmentalists,
relentless efforts are required on the part of the GoI to convince social scientists, and other experts on Interlinking of Rivers
the states and get them to agree with the proposals. A group with a view to making the process of proceeding on Interlinking
headed by the Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC) of Rivers consultative under the chairmanship of Secretary
and consisting of other officers of the CWC and the Secretaries (WR) and environmental concerns to be resolved have been
of the Irrigation/Water Resources Department from concerned included in the Terms of Reference (ToR) for DPRs.
states was constituted by GoI in June, 2002 to discuss with
the states the issues of arriving at a consensus regarding sharing
Financial Constraints
of surplus waters and the preparation of a detailed project report
by NWDA. Intensive efforts are being made by the government Interlinking of rivers is going to be a task of gigantic proportions
through deliberations in various meetings to ensure a consensus both in terms of size as well as in terms of investment.
among the concerned states on the basis of feasibility studies However, if the investments are spread over a number of years,
of ILR proposals. As a result of such efforts, a Memorandum annual investment may not be substantially higher than the
of Understanding was signed recently among the Centre, present state funding targeted at the water resources sector
Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh for the preparation of the or other poverty alleviation programmes. The cost of the
DPR of the Ken–Betwa Link. The preparation of the DPR of Interlinking of Rivers Programme is tentatively estimated to
this link has been taken up by NWDA and the quantification be about Rs 560,000 crore at 2002 price level. NCAER, in
of various tangible and intangible benefits will be attempted its study, has estimated that the cost of the ILR project would
at the DPR stage. To arrive at similar agreements in respect be about Rs 444,000 crore which is 21–22 per cent lower than
of the remaining links will be the main challenge, towards the present rough estimate. The exact requirement on realistic
which consistent efforts have to be made. basis will be available only after the preparation of the DPRs
of all the links. Funding can be partly through public, public–
private, and private inputs (TFILR, 2004).
Environmental Concerns
In addition to the above, a plethora of points for debate
The ILR proposals have to address environmental concerns in regard to the ILR Programme: (i) Should water be made
and clearly delineate remedial measures to mitigate damage to available to non-basin States? (ii) What should the role of
the ecology and biodiversity of the project areas, if any. Major the Union government be? (iii) Should the Tribunals decide
concerns listed by the Ministry of Environment & Forests on the ultimate requirements of the basin and identify balance
to be addressed during implementation of the Interlinking surplus waters? (iv) Should normal criteria of economic analysis
of Rivers proposals are: be applied for ILR? (v) Is better water management a
1. Protection of forest cover. substitute to water transfers? (vi) Do we need Constitutional
2. Protection of reserve forests and wild life sanctuaries. amendments to enable the ILR programme? and (vii) Should
3. De-reservation of National Parks/Sanctuaries. food self-sufficiency be a national goal? These points need to
 Irrigation and Water Resources 205

be debated on various fora and the modalities decided upon micro level monitoring is being carried out by the Steering
by the planners in the interest of the country (IWRS 1996). Committee headed by Secretary (WR) and Monitoring
Committee headed by Chairman, CWC.
MONITORING OF THE ILR PROGRAMME
CONCLUSIONS
The Supreme Court of India, in the Writ Petition No.512 of
2002 regarding networking of rivers, directed the Union To accelerate the country’s GDP rate of growth to 8–10 per
Government to file an affidavit. The government has informed cent, it is essential that agricultural sector productivity be
the Court that the MoWR has prepared a National Perspective raised. Making use of water which runs off during monsoons
Plan for inter linking of rivers of the country for transferring is one of the ways to assure supply of water in a timely and
water from water surplus basins to water deficit basins. It equitable manner.
was also stated in the Affidavit that a High Level Task Force The ILR project has the potential to catalyze socio-economic
can be formed to go into the modalities for bringing out the transformation of rural masses and alleviation of poverty. It
consensus among the states. As per the Perspective Plan for is focused on providing water for drinking, irrigation, and
implementation of inter-basin water transfer proposals prepared agro-based industries which will benefit rural people. Of
by the National Water Development Agency submitted by course there are some important issues such as submergence,
the State of Tamil Nadu along with its affidavit to the Supreme environmental concerns, and displacement which need to be
Court, the completion of the Peninsular links will be achieved addressed amicably.
by 2035 and Himalayan links by 2043. On this, the Supreme There are a number of successful examples of water
Court has observed in the said petition, ‘We do expect that resources projects such as Bhakra (Box 7.2.2), Rajasthan canal,
the programme when drawn up would try and ensure that the and the Sardar Sarovar project which have been instrumental
link projects are completed within a reasonable time of not to the overall well-being of the hinterland. ILR project is
more than ten years. We say so because recently the National expected to emulate these projects in transforming the water
Highways Projects have been undertaken and the same is resources development scenario in the country, both spatially
nearing completion and the inter-linking of the rivers is and temporally.
complementary to the said project and the water ways which Development of local water resources through watershed
are constructed will be of immense benefit to the country as management must be carried out in tandem with interlinking
a whole.’ of rivers to gain the true benefits of existing water resources.
The Supreme Court regularly monitors the progress of Watershed management measures are site specific and cannot
implementation of ILR projects. The Affidavits indicating be applied universally. Particularly, when the normal rainfall
progress of ILR are submitted by the government on a regular itself is quite low in the region the scope of watershed develop-
basis. The Court in its recent order has directed that the ment in semi-arid and arid regions is not very significant. This
ILR website should contain an interactive contact so that strategy alone may not be able to solve the massive water
those intending to give suggestions can use it to reach the availability problems which the Interlinking of Rivers Project
concerned authorities. Further, the Court has directed that is attempting to do. Integrated Water Resources Development
the authorities should expedite the completion of the DPR plans must take into account all the options in meeting the
of Ken-Betwa link. prevailing as well as projected demand for water in the coun-
While the macro level monitoring of the ILR Programme try. Also, it must be appreciated that conservation of water
is regularly being done by the Supreme Court, the detailed for its prudent use round-the-year will pay rich dividends.
206 India Infrastructure Report 2007

ANNEXE
PROPOSED DAMS IN INTERLINKING OF RIVERS PROJECT
Table A7.2.1
Peninsular Rivers Development Component
S.No. Name of Link Proposed Dams
1. Mahanadi (Manibhadra)–Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) Manibhadra
2. Godavari (Inchampalli)–Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) Inchampalli
3. Godavari (Inchampalli)–Krishna (Pulichintala) Pulichintala
4. Godavari (Polavaram)–Krishna (Vijayawada) Polavaram
5. Ken–Betwa Daudhan
6. Parbati–Kalisindh—Chambal Patanpur, Mohanpura, Kundaliya
7. Par–Tapi–Narmada Jheri, Mohankavchali, Paikhed, Chasmandva, Chikkar, Dabdar, Kelwan
8. Damanganga–Pinjal Bhugad, Khargihill, Pinjal
9. Bedti–Varda Pattanadhahalla, Shalamalahalla
10. Netravati–Hemavati Yattin hole, Keri hole, Hongadhallad hole
11. Pamba–Achankovil–Vaippar Punnamedu, Achankovil Kal Ar, Achankovil

Table A.7.2.2
Proposed Dams in Inter-linking of Rivers Project:
Himalayan Rivers Development Component
S.No. Name of Link Proposed dams
1. Kosi–Mechi and Kosi–Ghagra Kosi
2. Gandak–Ganga Gandak
3. Ghagra–Yamuna Chisapani
4. Sarda–Yamuna Poornagiri
5. Sone Dam–Southern Tributaries of Ganga Kadwan
6. Brahmaputra–Ganga (Manas–Sankosh–Tista–Ganga) Manas, Sankosh

Table A7.2.3
States/Districts Benefitted by various Link Proposals of NWDA under Peninsular Rivers Development Component
S.No. Name of Link States/Districts Benefited
1. Mahanadi (Manibhadra)–Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) Orissa: Cuttack, Khurda,Nayagarh, Puri, Gajapati and Ganjam
Andhra Pradesh: Srlkakulam,Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam
2. Godavari (Inchampalli)–Krishna (Pulichintala) Andhra Pradesh: Warangal, West Godavari and Khammam
3. Godavari (Inchampalli)–Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) Andhra Pradesh: Warangal, Khammam and Nalgonda
4. Godavari (Polavaram)–Krishna (Vijayawada) Andhra Pradesh: Krishna and West Godavari
5. Krishna (Almatti)–Pennar Karnataka: Raichur*and Bellary*
Andhra Pradesh: Ananthpur*
6. Krishna (Srisailam)–Pennar Andhra Pradesh: No en route irrigation proposed
7. Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)–Pennar (Somasila) Andhra Pradesh: Prakasam* and Nellore
8. Pennar (Somasila)–Cauvery (Grand Anicut) Andhra Pradesh: Nellore and Chittoor*
Tamil Nadu: Tiruvallur,Kanchipuram, Cuddalore, Vellore,
Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai
Pondicherry: Pondicherry

(contd)
 Irrigation and Water Resources 207

Table A7.2.3 (continued)

S.No. Name of Link States/Districts Benefited

9. Cauvery (Kattalai)–Vaigai–Gundar Tamil Nadu: Truchirapalli, Pudukkotai, Sivaganga, Ramanadhapuram*,
Virudhnagar, Karur and Thoothukudi
10. Ken–Betwa Madhya Pradesh: Chhatarpur, Panna, Tikamgargh, Rajasthan
and Vidisha.
Uttar Pradesh: Hamirpur and Jhansi.
11. Parbati–Kalisindh–Chambal Madhya Pradesh: Rajgarh, Guna, Shajapur* Mandsaur, Ujjain,*
Alternative-I Ratlam and Dhar*.
Rajasthan: Jhalawar.
Alternative-II Madhya Pradesh: Rajgarh, Guna, Shajapur* Mandsaur, Ujjain,* Ratlam
and Dhar*.
Rajasthan: Jhalawar, Kota and Chittaurgarh
12. Par–Tapi–Narmada Gujarat: Valsad, Dang, Surat, Bharuch*, Vadodara, Kutch and Saurashtra*.
13. Damanganga–Pinjal Maharashtra: Water supply to Mumbai City.
14. Bedti–Varda Karnataka: Raichur*
15. Netravati–Hemavati Karnataka:Tumkur* Hassan* and Mandya
16. Pamba–Achankovil–Vaippar Tamil Nadu: Chidambaranar, Tirunelveli* Kamarajar

Table A.7.2.4
States/Districts benefittig by various Link Proposals of NWDA under Himalayan Rivers Development Component
S.No. Name of Link States/Districts Benefited
1. Brahmaputra–Ganga (MSTG) Assam: Goalpara, Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Barpeta
West Bengal: Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri
Bihar: Purnea and Katihar
2. Kosi–Ghagra Bihar: West Champaran (Bettiah), East Champaran (Motihari), Saharsa
(including Supaul and Madhepura new distt.), Madhubani, Darbhanga,
Samastipur, Bengusarai, Khagaria, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Munger*, Sitamarhi,
Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Patna, Chapra, Siwan and Gopalganj
Uttar Pradesh: Gorakhpur, Ballia and Deoria
3. Gandak–Ganga Uttar Pradesh: Sultanpur, Faizabad, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Ballia,
Pratapgarh, Raibareli, Baharaich, Gonda Gorakhpur, Basti, Barabanki,
Lucknow, Allahabad*, Varanasi* and Sitapur
4. Ghagra–Yamuna Uttar Pradesh: Pilibhit, Bareilly, Kheri, Shahjahanpur, Sitapur, Hardoi,
Lucknow, Unnao, Etah, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Fatherpur,
Allahabad*, Budaun, Etawah and Raibareli
5. Sarda–Yamuna Uttar Pradesh: Bareilly, Rampur, Muradabad, Budaun and Bijnor.
Uttranchal: Udhamsingh Nagar
NCR of Delhi: Domestic and Industrial Water Supply
6. Yamuna–Rajasthan Haryana: Bhiwani*
Rajasthan: Ganga Nagar, Bikaner*, Jodhpur* and Jaisalmer*
7. Rajasthan–Sabarmati Rajasthan: Jaisalmer*, Barmer* and Jalore*
Gujarat: Banaskantha*, Mehsana* and Gandhinagar
8. Chunar–Sone Barrage Bihar: Rohtas*, Bhojpur* and Buxer
Uttar Pradesh: Mirzapur* Varanasi*, Gazipur and Ballia
9. Sone Dam–Southern Tributaries of Ganga Bihar: Patna, Saran, Nalanda, Gaya*, Jehanabad, Vaishali, Munger*,
Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Nawada*, Jamui and Aurangabad*
Jharkhand: Palamu*
(contd)
208 India Infrastructure Report 2007

Table A7.2.4 ( continued)

Sl.No. Name of Link States/Districts Benefited

10. Ganga–Damodar–Subernarekha West Bengal: Murshidabad, Birbhum, Nadia, Hoogly, Howrah, Burdwan,
Bankura* and Midnapur*
Jharkhand: Pakur and Dumka
Orissa: Balasore and Mayurbhanj
11. Subernarekha–Mahanadi West Bengal: Midnapur*
Orissa: Balasore and Mayurbhanj
12. Kosi–Mechi Bihar: Purnea and Saharsa
13. Farakka–Sunderbans West Bengal: Murshidabad, Nadia and 24 Paraganas
14. Brahmaputra–Ganga (JTF) Assam: Goalpara, Dhubri and Kokrajhar
(Alt. to MSTG) West Bengal: Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar
Bihar: Katihar and Purnea
Note: * Drought Prone Districts.
Source: Pre-feasibility and feasibility reports of NHDA.
 Irrigation and Water Resources 209

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