BRIDGING THE LAST MILE IN CANAL IRRIGATION

not a simple matter

Part of a study supported by

Main Canal Branch Canal Distributary

A CANAL NETWORK

VIEWS OF A CANAL

Pictures of the same canal!

MORE VIEWS OF A CANAL

Pictures of the same canal!

High ground: Channel lies far below ground level

CANALS IN UNDULATING LAND

channel channel

Low lying area: Channel with suction pipes placed in it

ground level

bund

ground level

.

An escape gate with its attached screw visible. Flow through escape gate can be increased or decreased by turning the screw. One full turn changes level by one thread.

ESCAPE GATES IN CANALS: How canals release water

SKETCH OF A DISTRIBUTARY: a type of canal

A map from Google with irrigation tanks visible

Large tanks show up in blue and black, smaller ones must be outlined.

THE LAY OF THE LAND : Irrigation Tanks

In erstwhile Mysore State:

“There were 37,000 of these

reservoirs, the largest of which had a

surface of 14 square miles. In the

Madras Presidency there were about

42,000. Such a vast system or anything

comparable to it did not exist in any

other part of the world.”

(Major Sankey 1896)

A CASCADE OF TANKS: A tank map

Extensive system

When the British arrived 3,00,000 tanks irrigating 4 million hectares in South India

A full tank - towards end of monsoon (~ Oct end)

Uses: Fishing, irrigation & groundwater recharge

.

An empty tank – all through summer and beyond (~ Feb to Aug)

Uses: Grazing, Fertile silt removed to fields

MULTIPLE USES OF A TANK

A BRIMFULL TANK

Is like a temple consecrated!

Tanks fed by the distributary

(as numbered in the adjacent sketch )

1. Hirekere

2. C hikkanakere

3. Nammurukere

4. Moolekere

Distributary length ~20km

Water takes ~ 24 hrs to reach tank 4, viz Moolekere

DISTRIBUTARY FEEDING 4 IRRIGATION TANKS

SEARCH FOR WATER IN 2012: A tragi-comic drama

SCENE, PROPS,& BACKDROP End of October: End of a bad monsoon, looming

water scarcity over summer.

Branch Canal Flow :

Water allowed to flow for 30 days. Of this only 20 days left when drama begins.

Distributary:

No water let in, but we hear that distributaries above and below us are receiving water.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

⌂ CHIEF PROTAGONISTS: 150-200 men, from the villages of the 4 medium sized tanks fed by the distributary.

o MINOR ACTORS: Farmers from a few smaller tanks unconnected to the distributary.

CONSTANT WINNERS: Those owning farms and paddy fields along the distributary itself, nearer its upper reaches.

POLITICAL PLAYERS: M.P. and M.L.A s to bring pressure on irrigation department officials. In this play, the M.L.A. of S and the M.P. of our district.

IRRIGATION DEPT.: In the play, but with little influence on it, was the Works Supervisor. The A.E. & E.E. - key participants – only counted in the extent to which they could be acted upon.

Submersible pumps placed in canal Obstructions to raise water level

CONSTANT WINNERS! SUCTION PIPES AND SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS

Air / suction pipes placed in canal : No power required!

THE 20 DAY DRAMA BEGINS: Day 1

We go to Ebc WORKS SUPERVISOR to US : No order to release water to your distributary. We meet M.P. M.P. calls Irrigation Dept: E.E. to M.P. :Water released into Branch Canal only for drinking water purposes of H town. M.P. to E.E. :The need of these people is also for drinking! No literal following of rules. Share water among all the needy. We go back to Ebc WORKS SUPERVISOR to US : I still have no order to release water. We call M.P. M.P. calls Irr. Dept. M.P. to US :The A.E. will arrive on the spot and release water. We wait for an hour but still no A.E. in sight.

DAY 1 continued…

A.E. arrives finally. MLA of S arrives simultaneously. Why? MLA of S berates A.E.

M.L.A to A.E. : Release water! A.E. orders Ebc to be raised by 15 threads M.L.A. to A.E. :Raise the Ebc more, or water will not reach the tail end! A.E. to M.L.A :I have strict instructions not to raise the Ebc higher. M.L.A. forces A.E. to raise Ebc higher. We wind up to return. M.L.A. takes photo of A.E. as having contravened orders. Mystifying!

Now we quarrel : My tank first, my tank first. Compromise reached. Quota of 5 days for each of the 4 tanks – thus adding up to 20 days in all.

DAY 6: Scene of action shifts

1st tank had its 5 days share of water. E gate there to be closed so water can flow downstream. 2nd tank people come to close E gate.

MINOR ACTORS to 2nd TANK’S PEOPLE : We will beat you up. Their small tank call fill with 1st tank’s overflow and they demand their (unauthorised) share. 2nd tank’s people file police complaint. Police presence at the E gate.

DAY 11: Scene of action again shifts

2nd tank had its 5 days share of water. E gate there to be closed so water can flow downstream. 3nd tank people – as a goodwill gesture - let 4th tank people take water first. As water reached 4th tank, flow stopped at Ebc by Irr. Dept. We go to Ebc

WORKS SUPERVISOR to US: Complaint by M.L.A of S to Irr. Dept. Increased flow let in on Day 1 by A.E. contravened orders. So all flow stopped. We call M.P. M.P. calls A.E. Unravells mystery.

M.P. to E.E : Unlawful excess was politically motivated – therefore not to be blamed on the public. So release water.

DAY 12 & 13:

Water released. 4th tank people leave 10 men strong patrols at each upstream E gate. No upstream tank had filled fully, so risk of people breaking prior agreement. But within a day… M.L.A. of S to OTHER MINOR ACTORS: You too will get water, if you dig a channel to your tank today itself! The water scarce village hired earthmover immediately to finish a 1 km long channel. They too claimed their (unauthorised) share now. 4th tank people got tired – returned turn to 3rd tank for the remaining days.

DAY 14 & 15: action at Ebc again

It is clear that 3rd tank, like the rest will not fill up fully. Over eager youth of 3rd tank, without informing anyone, go surrepititiously at night to Ebc and raise the gate ( a non-trivial task ). A.E. discovers it the next morning – stops water release. Before we can regroup – news comes in. The Main Canal has breached in a district upstream of us – so no more water for our district!

THE DRAMA ENDS

What does this story show?

Arbitrariness at various levels

Water in Branch Canal meant only for drinking water of H town Releasing water from Branch Canal to some distributaries, not others Small tanks in vicinity not allocated Distributary water

Information Gaps

Time and duration of flow in Branch Canal not known Collective Action

Possible at Distributary Level Monitoring of any agreement still needed

What does this story show?

Sources of Inequities:

A. Fundamental – Election Results

B. Created by Engineering Design – Canal Alignment (through low lying areas in head reaches)

C. Created by Allocation Rules – Arbitrary and arbitrarily followed

Neglected research questions:

Why are irrigation tanks not filling up from rainfall anymore? Why exactly has runoff declined ?

Points to ponder over:

This is a common, uninteresting story for farmers - their everyday reality

Problems of agriculture are not simple - can Kisan Call Centres solve such problems? Technology fixes for agriculture

- create dependencies and inequities Some basic “agricultural literacy” necessary for Urban Residents

- to reduce their gullibility - to bridge some gaps between Bharat and India

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.“

- One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought.

Source: Mahatma Gandhi [Last Phase, Vol. II (1958), P. 65]

Point to Ponder: Gandhiji’s Talisman

TOP – DOWN PLANNING IS EASIER THAN BOTTOM – UP PLANNING