the irrigation, revenue and agricultural departments, with a majority of non-official members who should, if possible, be cultivators. The functions of this organisation would be to examine representations made to it by individual cultivators and by associations of cultivators, and to arrange that such of them as contained points of substance should receive careful attention at the hands of Government. Whether an organisation of this character should be constituted for a province as a whole or for particular irrigation systems is a matter we would leave to the discretion of the provincial governments, but we consider it essential that the non-official members of it should themselves be landholders or cultivators in the irrigated tracts for which it is formed. Advisory committees for irrigation already exist in the Godavari, Kistna and Cauvery deltas in Madras and appear to be working effectively. In the Central Provinces, there is a Standing Committee for Irrigation composed mainly of members of the Legislative Council, but its duties appear to be the consideration of important new proposals rather than the examination of grievances. The more thoroughly such grievances are aired and the sooner they receive a preliminary investigation and sifting at the hands of the district officers and of local agricultural associations and kindred bodies the better for all concerned, but there should remain a definite right of access to some central organisation constituted as we have suggested.* 285. Before the constitutional changes which followed the passing CENTRAL ORGANISATION. of the Government of India Act of 1919, the Government of India were the real owners of every major irrigation work in India, the position of the provincial governments being very much akin to that of managing agents. The capital required for the works was found by the central Government and no original estimate could be sanctioned by any lower authority. After the Secretary of State or the Government of India had accorded sanction to a new major work, a term which included all productive and protective works, some of them costing even less than a lakh of rupees, the project was constructed by the local governments as agents of the Government of India, whose control was exercised through the medium of the Inspector General of Irrigation. The position was completely changed by the Reforms as the result of which, as already mentioned, irrigation became a provincial subject, administered by the reserved side of the local governments. Although, under the new Constitution, the funds for all new works have to be provided by the local governments, a specific limitation has been placed on their powers. It is laid down that the sanction of the Secretary of State is necessary to capital expenditure on irrigation *Mr. Calvert dissents from this recommendation. He considers that where the Northern India Canal and Drainage Act is in force and where suitable rules have been framed thereunder, ample provision exists for full consideration of cultivators' grievances and opportunity is provided for appeal to Superintending Engineers and Commissioners. Elsewhere in temporarily settled provinces, he considers that the Collector is the most suitable authority to deal with such grievances. Organisations of the kind recommended would, he considers, be of little use to the cultivators while they would provide yet further opportunity for misrepresentation. and similar works, if the project concerned materially affects the interests of more than one local government, if the original estimate exceeds Rs. 50 lakhs, if a revised estimate exceeds by fifteen per cent an original estimate sanctioned by the Secretary of State or if a further revised estimate has been proposed after one revised estimate has been sanctioned by the Secretary of State. The effect of this limitation is to give the Government of India a greater measure of control over irrigation matters than they possess in regard to other reserved subjects. For the exercise of this control they rely upon the advice of their Consulting Engineer who has replaced the Inspector General of Irrigation. The position thus created has given rise to difficulties and we were informed by Mr. Harris, who, at the time he gave evidence before us, was performing the duties of Consulting Engineer to the Government of India, that it had been ascertained that whilst provincial governments were agreed that it was very desirable that they should be able to obtain a second opinion on their irrigation projects, they strongly objected to interference once a project had been sanctioned. Rivers and drainage lines do not respect provincial boundaries, and the evidence we received in the course of our enquiry convinced us of the urgent need for the creation of an organisation which would not only enable provincial governments to obtain a second opinion in regard to their irrigation projects but would also be in a position to give the Government of India authoritative advice in regard to the settlement of disputes between provinces arising out of claims to the same source of supply. In these circumstances, we welcome the recent constitution by the Government of India of a Central Irrigation Board, of which the Consulting Engineer to the Government of India and all the chief engineers for irrigation in the provinces are members. The Board will work through sub-committees consisting of those engineers with recent experience of works akin to those to be discussed. These subcommittees will be convened by the Government of India at the instance of the local government concerned when a new project is about to be sanctioned or when a province finds itself in difficulties in any technical matter. We understand that three such sub-committees have already been convened. This arrangement has many advantages, not the least of which is that, as the Government of India have the right to convene sub-committees for their own purposes, they have now a ready means of obtaining competent advice on such central questions as irrigation schemes affecting two provinces, or a province and an Indian State, and on irrigation schemes which they are required to submit for the sanction of the Secretary of State in Council. The Consulting Engineer to the Government of India is not necessarily a member of all sub-committees and the incumbent of the post has, therefore, been required to take up, in addition to his technical work, the duties which formerly devolved on the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Industries and Labour. Whilst the constitution of the Central Irrigation Board and the manner in which it will function will result in the benefit of experience gained in one province being placed at the disposal of other provinces, we are of opinion that something more than this is required. We do not consider that it is, in itself, sufficient to secure that general dissemination of technical information throughout the provincial irrigation departments which we regard as desirable. We have been impressed in this, as in so many other directions, with the ignorance in one province of what is going on in others. Unless steps are taken to remedy this defect, that ignorance will become even more marked with the establishment of the provincial stations for research into irrigation matters which we recommend in the following paragraph. We, therefore, propose the establishment of a Central Bureau of Information for Irrigation, the headquarters of which would be at Delhi and which might suitably be placed in charge of the Consulting Engineer to the Government of India. The main functions of the Bureau would be to establish and maintain a comprehensive library of irrigation publications, both Indian and foreign, which could be consulted by irrigation engineers and to act as a clearing house of information needed by provincial officers. It should, however, be something more than a mere repository of information and a centre for answering enquiries. It should endeavour to reach a wider public than the irrigation departments and to keep agricultural officers, and the public generally, in touch with irrigation developments in India and abroad. An additional means of bringing the irrigation engineers in the provinces into closer touch with each other would be provided by annual or biennial meetings and we consider it very desirable that such meetings should be arranged. They should be held in rotation in the different provinces and in localities which possess features of special interest to the irrigation engineer. 286. The Irrigation Commission expressed itself as struck by the small amount of attention which appeared to have THE NEED FOR IRRI- been given by the departments of agriculture and GATION RESEARCH. public works to matters connected with the application of water to cultivated crops and recommended that systematic experiments should be made and carried on continuously for a series of years, with the object of solving the numerous problems which arise in connection with the distribution and application of water to the land. The waterlogging of land as a result of defective irrigation was forced on the attention of Government so long ago as 1832, and the long history of the Western Jumna Canal, one of the oldest in India, has afforded ample lessons in hydraulic engineering. The experience thereby gained, however, was not sufficient to prevent the recurrence of the evil in the new canal colonies of the Punjab. The problem has received continuous attention from the Government and its engineers, but the difficulty is to discover a measure that would not be too costly. Experiments in drainage, in lining the canals, in limiting irrigation, and so on, have been tried. and, in 1925, a special committee of enquiry was appointed. The reverse problem of desiccation or sinking of the water table is presented in the Jullundur Doab and is ascribed to the great increase of well irrigation. A detailed investigation confirmed popular opinion on the subject but led to no other recommendation than a restriction on the construction of new wells. The treatment of alkaline lands has received more prolonged attention, but the investigation has suffered from interruptions and more systematic and continuous research is required to discover measures to deal with this widespread evil. The water requirements of crops have been studied on empirical lines by irrigation engineers who keep a careful record of the depth of water supplied per acre irrigated, and they incline to the opinion that nothing further of practical value is likely to accrue from research. The scientific study of the problems was begun at Pusa some years ago but was not continued; the Bombay Irrigation Department is carrying out an investigation of considerable interest at Hadapsar, but elsewhere little is being done. Even in the Punjab, where the importance of irrigation is almost supreme, it is only recently that a scientific research officer has been appointed for irrigation research and the question of a farm where problems could be studied under field conditions has not gone further than the earmarking of an area of land. No scheme for its working has so far matured and no staff has yet been appointed. It is hardly necessary to add that, when the era of construction of large irrigation works draws to a close, as there is every reason to believe that it soon will, economy in the use of water will be the determining factor in the extension of cultivation. ORGANISATION OF IRRIGATION RE 287. We are strongly of opinion, therefore, that more attention should be paid in all provinces in which irrigation is of importance to research on the problems to which it gives rise. The value of irrigation research has, as we have noted, been recognised of late in Bombay, where a special irrigation division was formed in 1916 to enquire into problems which the agricultural and irrigation departments had till then been investigating from different points of view; and in the Punjab, where the scientific research officer mentioned above, who will shortly have a permanent and suitably equipped hydrological laboratory, was appointed in 1924. In both these provinces, there are now officers engaged on the investigation of a wide range of irrigation problems such as the study of movements of the water table and their effect in producing waterlogging on the one hand or desiccation on the other, the water requirements of crops under field conditions, improved methods of irrigation both as regards the distribution of water by modules and the lay out of land for irrigation and hydrodynamical problems connected with such questions as the design of irrigation works and water-borne silt. Whilst we consider that the example set by the Punjab and Bombay should be followed in other provinces, we have no desire to lay down any hard and fast lines on which such research should be conducted and would leave it to each province to decide upon the organisation it requires. In some provinces, a single officer assisted by a subordinate staff may prove sufficient; in others, a special research division of the provincial irrigation department may be required. Much depends on the nature of the problems to be investigated. Waterlogging, for example, primarily requires investigation by an engineer, but he will need to learn from the agriculturist the minimum depth below the soil surface to which the water table must be kept in order to ensure successful cropping in the locality. Agricultural experience is also wanted to determine the amount of water which a crop requires and its distribution through the period of its development in order to produce its maximum yield. Yet again, in attacking the problem of alkali formation, the services of the chemist as well as of the agriculturist and the engineer have to be requisitioned. Whilst we do not advocate any rigid type of organisation for irrigation research, we would insist most strongly on the closest association between the irrigation and agricultural departments in regard to it. In the Bombay Presidency, we found that the irrigation research station at Hadapsar and the neighbouring agricultural farm at Manjri were not agreed on the aim to be pursued in studying the water requirements of crops. At the Hadapsar station, the aim was to discover the minimum amount of water which would mature an average crop so that the water available might be spread over the maximum area; at Manjri farm, it was to ascertain the amount of water which should be given in order to secure the greatest yield. Such disagreement not only involves waste of energy but also if, as it obviously must, it results in conflicting advice to the cultivator, it gravely militates against the usefulness of both stations. It is, therefore, in our view, essential that the heads of the two departments should collaborate in the presentation to the local government of an agreed list of the irrigation problems to be investigated in the order of urgency and importance. Where the nature of the problem requires the establishment of a research station, it may also be desirable that they should submit a scheme. for staffing it jointly with irrigation and agricultural officers. We cannot stress too strongly the necessity for continuity in this, as in other branches of research, if any results of value are to be obtained. It should, we think, be made clear to both irrigation and agricultural officers that the institution by Government of a special research organisation is not intended in any way to indicate discouragement of research by officers who have not been specially detailed for such work. Individual irrigation engineers in the Punjab at various times during the past thirty years have, for instance, done valuable research work on the evolution of modules and on materials for waterproofing canals and distributaries. It should, therefore, be one of the most important duties of the officers in charge of the special research stations to watch for useful suggestions from all quarters and to encourage the efforts of those who make them by placing apparatus and information at their disposal so far as done without detriment to the regular work of this can the stations. In this connection, we would draw attention to the part which could be played by the scientific staff of the Indian universities in the solution |