CHAPTER X OF THE MAIN REPOrt.

VIII. IRRIGATION

The Report of the Irrigation Commission of 1903 was so comprehensive and its recommendations so exhaustive that no further enquiry of a similar character has been considered necessary. Irrigation policy and development have followed, in the main, the lines laid down by the Commission. Our concern with irrigation is purely from the agricultural point of view.

The part which irrigation plays in the rural economy of the different provinces varies greatly from province to province, but it is of chief importance in Sind, the Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, Madras, the United Provinces and Bihar and Orissa. On an average, for the five years from 1921-22 to 1925-26, nearly 50 million acres were irrigated by government and private irrigation works, the percentage of irrigated area to area sown being 19 4. Practically half the total area irrigated is irrigated by canals, the remainder being irrigated by tanks, wells and other sources.

We do not describe in detail the existing canal systems of India but indicate some of the principal projects in hand or contemplated. The very brief description which follows must not be regarded as in any way indicating a preference on our part for a particular scheme.

In the Punjab, where the area under irrigation from government works has steadily increased from 2.3 million acres in 1887-88 to an average of 10.4 million acres from 1921-22 to 1925-26, the possibilities of further expansion are far from exhausted. The Sutlej Valley project, which is the only large project at present under construction in the Punjab, will, when completed in 1933-34, provide perennial irrigation for two million acres. But other great schemes are under consideration. The Thal project, even in its revised form, would command an area of nearly a million-and-a-half acres. The Haveli project would bring perennial irrigation to an area of about 700,000 acres. The Sutlej Dam project would add two million acres of rabi cultivation between the Sutlej and the Jumna rivers.

At present, the existing canals in Sind are almost entirely of the inundation type. They only obtain water for some five months when the Indus is in flood and this only in fluctuating quantities. The construction of the Sukkur Barrage across the Indus just below Sukkur which, when completed, will be the greatest work of its kind in the world, will entirely change this. It is anticipated that it will irrigate over five million acres of which two million acres present very unsatisfactorily irrigated from the existing inundation canals.

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In the United Provinces, the Sarda Canal is the only project of importance under construction. This will, it is estimated, irrigate annually an area of about 1.7 million acres. On its completion, all the principal available resources for perennial irrigation in the United Provinces will have been tapped.

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In Madras, the great irrigation systems, the Godavari, the Kistna and the Cauvery differ completely in character from those already described. The problem has been to regulate the supply rather than to extend it to new areas. The works consist of weirs by which a sufficient head of water is obtained to irrigate the lands of the deltas and of sluices and regulators by means of which the water is conducted over these lands. The new works under construction or consideration are storage reservoirs to impound the water of the great rivers of the province, their tributaries and other streams, with a view to supplement the existing supplies. The Cauvery-Mettur project, at present under construction, will, it is estimated, improve the supply of an area of a million acres already irrigated and bring under irrigation a new area of 221,000 acres of first crop and 90,000 acres of second crop, while it will also supplement supplies in an existing wet area of 80,000 acres now inadequately irrigated. Two projects which have long been under consideration are the Kistna and the Tungabhadra projects. Attention is now being concentrated on a revised scheme for impounding the waters of the Tungabhadra by the construction of a reservoir at Timmalapuram in the Bellary district. This would provide water for a wide extension of irrigation in tracts very liable to scarcity. We are not in a position to express any opinion as to the feasibility of either of these projects from the financial or the technical point of view.

In Bombay proper, as distinguished from Sind, irrigation by canals is confined to the Deccan and (on a very small scale) to Gujarat. The most important works are of the reservoir type: the Khadak Wasla Dam across the Mutha river, ten miles above Poona, which was completed in 1879, being the first work of its kind in India. The object of irrigation in Bombay proper is mainly protection against famine and only about 450,000 acres are irrigated from government works. With a very few exceptions, there is a heavy annual loss in their working. This is the more unfortunate as the rainfall of the Western Ghats which they utilise is unfailing. The most important new work of this kind is the Lloyd Dam at Bhatgar intended to protect a part of Sholapur district which is specially liable to famine and also to improve existing irrigation.

Next to canals, wells are the most important source of irrigation and, during the five years ending 1925-26, they have on the average irrigated annually over eleven million acres. These wells are of all kinds varying from mere holes in the ground to elaborate masonry structures of great width and considerable depth or tubes of small bore, from which by power pumping, large and continuous supplies of water can be obtained. Well irrigation is most highly developed in the United Provinces where over 4 million acres are irrigated from them. Tanks are the third great source of irrigation. These range from storage reservoirs, the distributary channels from which irrigate several thousand acres, to small works irrigating only a few acres. They are of special importance in Madras.

Since the introduction of the Reforms, local governments are in a position to raise the funds required for protective irrigation schemes by

loans if they are unable to finance protective schemes of irrigation from current revenues or from the Famine Insurance Fund which they are bound to maintain. We trust that, so far as the financial situatiɔn may allow, this may encourage the construction of further protective works.

The problem of preventing the waste of irrigation water, of securing greater certainty to the cultivator as to the supply he will receive and of relieving him from any harassment and interference from the staff which records his irrigation has long engaged the attention of irrigation experts in India. The Indian Irrigation Commission took the view that it would be of great advantage both to Government and the cultivators if the latter could be induced to take over their supplies at the outlets, to arrange all details of internal distribution between themselves and to relieve the canal administration of all further responsibility and of the great expense of recording the details of the irrigation and of making the final measurements and assessments. They concluded, however, that the system of charging by volume could not be safely introduced in India until a system of distribution by modules of the type which it might be proposed to use had been in force for a time sufficiently long to enable the people to understand what was proposed. They held that, even then, the change in the system of assessment should not be forced but should be introduced gradually, as the people learned to appreciate its advantages. They added that it was an end to be aimed at and that irrigation officers should be encouraged to design and experiment on modules which would be suited to the conditions to be met with in practice, until the work of distribution could be carried out with all the regularity and certainty which were essential to the success of any scheme of charging by volume. These recommendations of the Irrigation Commission marked the starting point of investigations into the possibility of more scientific and equitable distribution of water. Much progress has been effected in recent years in the improvement of the system of distribution. Every distributary in the Punjab has been, or is being, fitted with a meter so that the exact amount of water passed into it is known. By this means, considerable economy of supply has been effected, enabling irrigation to be extended to areas for which water was not previously available, and the opportunities of harassment and interference by the subordinate staff have been greatly reduced. But irrigation engineers display some scepticism as to the possibility of the sale of water by volume. Many arguments against this system were brought before us but we consider that further investigation and experiment are eminently desirable before a final decision against the sale of water by volume is reached.

Even under the area system of distribution, some cultivators make their water go much further than others. No reduction in the supply of water should be made solely because water has been economically used.

It was suggested to us by several witnesses that the distribution of water should be transferred from the Irrigation to the Agricultural Department. We see no advantage in this proposal. We are of opinion that there is at present no practical alternative to the system

of government control over distribution down to the field distributaries. There can, however, be little doubt that the general introduction of the sale of water by volume would greatly facilitate the substitution of private for official management of the minor distributaries. Irrigation panchayats for management of field distributaries seem to be a suitable organisation for obtaining collective action and fair dealing amongst cultivators. At present, the fundamental obstacle to entrusting distribution of water to private agency is the attitude of the cultivator himself. Water is so vital a thing to him that he is not yet prepared to leave his interest in this matter to the decision of his fellows. The group spirit which the panchayat would create might remove these difficulties and develop the mutual confidence necessary for the successful management of the larger distributaries.

Apart from the great irrigation schemes, smaller storage works and minor sources of irrigation are in certain tracts of great importance to cultivators. In Bombay, particular attention has recently been paid to this subject and, in 1925, a superintending engineer was placed on special duty to investigate natural resources for the protection of lands from famine. We are of opinion that much could be done to promote the development of minor works if the example of the Bombay Government were followed in other provinces and we would also suggest that the operations in Bombay should be extended to districts outside the insecure tracts. What is wanted in our view is an agency to which the cultivator who wishes to improve his land by utilising the natural sources of water supply can turn for technical advice and assistance. This agency should not wait for the cultivator to consult it, but should go to him and urge him to adopt the scheme best calculated to utilise his available water supply to the fullest advantage. The personnel should regard its function as educative rather than purely advisory. We, therefore, recommend that the construction and maintenance of minor irrigation works should be entrusted to a special agency.

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Irrigation from tube wells is a comparatively recent development in India. They are almost entirely in private ownership and privately financed, except in the United Provinces where substantial grants are given for their construction. Loans under the Land Improvement Loans Act are, of course, available for the purposes of sinking tube wells. Technical advice and assistance are freely given by the government department concerned and the well is, in fact, usually installed by that department subject to the payment of moderate fees for services rendered. In the United Provinces, an elaborate system of subsidy exists, the effect of which is that nearly one-half the cost is borne by Government. In addition to the assistance thus given, zamindars who undertake to multiply seed for Government or to lease land to Government for demonstration purposes may receive, in special cases, grants-in-aid up to a maximum of Rs. 3,000. We understand that, in practice, such grants are invariably applied for and are given at the maximum rate. We see no justification for the system of subsidies which has been adopted in the United Provinces and recommend that it should be terminated.

We consider that the department entrusted with the charge of pumping and boring operations should make detailed investigations into the economics of tube well irrigation and should also carry out a systematic survey of the subsoil water supplies. Government responsibility for the development of such irrigation should be limited to the supply of economic data, expert advice, and finance, where required, on the taccavi system. Government assistance may also include placing at the disposal of the landholder the boring equipment and skilled labour necessary on payment of a reasonable fee in tracts in which the scope for tube wells is limited or in which they are still a novelty; but, in general, private enterprise in such matters should not be discouraged by government competition. We are of opinion that pumping and boring operations should be entrusted to the agricultural departments.

The area irrigated by ordinary wells in British India is practically stationary. Construction of such wells is essentially a matter for private enterprise, but there are many ways in which the agricultural and irrigation departments can help the landholder. The agency for minor irrigation works which we have recommended and the engineering section of the agricultural departments should be able to give much technical assistance. In tracts where holdings are very small and where the construction of a well is beyond the capacity of the individual, every effort should be made to encourage co-operative sinking and working of wells. In some parts of India, the number of abandoned wells is large and we would suggest that, where this is the case, a special enquiry should be made by the Revenue Department into the reasons why the wells have fallen into disuse.

In addition to irrigation by canals, wells and tanks, numerous temporary bunds for the storage of rainfall are constructed each season and water is obtained by lift from rivers and streams. In the aggregate these various subsidiary sources of irrigation are important as they supply over ten per cent of the total irrigation. We consider that there is a wide field of opportunity here for the branch of the agricultural engineering department responsible for pumping operations to devise cheap and efficient pumps and to induce private enterprise to undertake their multiplication and to provide a repairing service for them.

It is clear that the relations between the agricultural and irrigation departments should be of the closest as they are so intimately concerned with the problems of land improvement. We are of opinion that the views of the Director of Agriculture should be obtained at an early stage on the agricultural aspect of all new irrigation schemes, that there should be frequent consultations between the heads of the agricultural and irrigation departments and that their views should be formally on record. Further, in order that the officers of one department may have some acquaintance with the problems of the other, we recommend that short courses on agriculture for irrigation officers and on irrigation for agricultural officers should be instituted.

In order that the cultivators, for the furtherance of whose interests the Irrigation Department exists, should have a more direct avenue of