Irrigation
Engineer

Lesson

Traditional

Water Systems

and
Minor
Irrigation

Scheme

Instructional objectives
On completion of this lesson, the student shall learn about:
1. The indigenous systems of water utilisation in India
2. Regionspecific traditional water storage systems in India

3.5.0

Introduction

Water is essential for the existence and survival of any life form. Hence human
settlements the world over have thrived so long they had enough water for consumption
and growing crops that yield food for community. The Indian subcontinent has
witnessed many such early settlements that devised their own systems of water
harvesting, which could be either from surface water or ground water. In the medieval
age areas dominated by feudal system, some of these systems took more scientific
form and surprisingly, many of these water extraction storage and conveyance
structures are still in use in some parts of the country. In other parts of the country,
especially in the hilly and mountainous terrains, the communities have devised certain
means of water tapping and transfer systems that have been used for generations to
provide water for drinking and agriculture. In fact, even today most of these hilly tracts
do not enjoy the benefit of modern irrigation systems and still depend on their age old
practices, as may be seen from the table below.
Net area irrigated by sources in Himalayan states (1988-89)
(All figures in thousand hectares)

Arunachal
Pradesh
Assam
Himachal
Pradesh
Jammu

and

As may be observedfrom the data in the table, the role of traditionalirrigationsystems,
managed by the farmers themselves is importantin the remote and hilly areas. In this
lesson, we look more closely to these traditionalapproachesof irrigationprevalent in
differentregionsof our countryand discussways by whichthese may be integratedwith
modernengineeringpractices.
Irrigationschemes less than 2000 hectare are designed as minor irrigationschemes.
Some examplesof such schemes have also been discussedin this lesson.

3.5.1 Traditional systems in different regions of India
In India, one may find regionsvarying in temperature,elevationand rainfall.As a result,
the climate is drasticallyvaryingfrom one place to anotherfor example,when that of the
northernHimalayanregionsis comparedwith that of the southerncoastal regionsor the
dry western and central regionsare comparedwith the west eastern and north eastern
regions. Hence, the methods of traditionalsystems of water utilizationhave evolved
very differentlyover the years in different places. The main sources of water have
generallybeen:
0

Utilization

of stream

and river water

o Directtappingof rain water (rain water harvesting)
0

Ground

Stream/river/su

water

rface

water

Wherever these sources exist, especially in the hill and mountain regions of India,
people developed techniques to divert its water with the help of simple engineering
structures,into artificialchannels that would take the water directlyto the agricultural
fields where streams joined to form rivers, even some larger and complex engineering
was used to divertthe riverwater, for examplethe Grand Anicut on the river Cauvery.
In the arid and semi arid regions,where water in the streams was more seasonal and
not available round the year, the diversionchannels were first directed into a storage
structure-sothat water could be used in the ensuingdry period for human and animal
consumption,and for agriculture.However not all storage structureswere riverfed or
streamfed. Many of them simply collected water runningoff a catchment area to be
stored

for later use.

In the flood plains, people developed ingenioustechniquesto use the menacingflood
water, not just to irrigatetheir fields,but also to fertilizetheir fieldswith the silt deposited
by flood waters and controldiseases like malaria by making use of the fish in the flood
waters to eat away the mosquitolarvae.

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Rain

water

utilization

There is a great potential of rain water harvesting and this has been used at many
places of the country, especially in the drier areas. For example, even in the drier areas
of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, people devised water harvesting structures called the
kundi. In certain areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, people even devised and used
techniques to tap the scarce rain water falling on rooftops.
Ground

water

Traditionally, dugwe||s have been constructed, the water from which was lifted using
traditional technology like the Persian wheel or simply pulley arrangement for use in
agriculture or drinking water purposes. Wells were, and still are, important source of
irrigation in the ground water rich region of the lndo-Gangetic plains. In the dry areas of
Rajasthan, people built structures like step wells and wells below tanks and other types
of water storage structures. These served both as ground water collection points as well
as storage structures for rain water harvesting. In some hilly regions, for instance in the
hills and mountains of eastern ghats, people have long since used the Middle Eastern
technology of qanats to build subterranean structures, which are horizontal wells with a
mild slope and called surangams locally, the top the water seeping down the hill sides
for use as drinking water.
In summary, the various types of traditional water harvesting system practiced in India
may be presented as given in the table below. It must be remembered that all these
methods are ingenious forms of water resources engineering and a modern engineer
may not only learn from these age old techniques but also suggest new ways to
improve them to make these more efficient.
Types of Indian Traditional water harvesting systems

Ecological
Regions

System for Irrigation

Systems for Drinking water

1. Hill and a) Diversion channels leading a) Natural springs were often
Mountain
directly to agricultural fields (eg.
harvested.
regions
Guhls and kuhls of western b) Rainwater harvesting from
Himalaya)
rooftops.
b) Ocassionally, the channels first c) lnthe Northeast, spring water is
lead into a storage structure so
often
carried
over
long
that water can be used in the
distances with the help of
subsequent dry period, too (eg.
bamboo pipes.
Zings of Ladakh).
2. Arid and a) Rainfed storage structures which a)
Groundwater
harvesting
Semiarid
provided water for a command
structures
like wells
and
reions

area

downstream

e.Tanks

stewells

were

built

to

ta

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b)

Stream

or

riverfed

structures, sometimes
series, with overflow

becoming
subsequent

storage
built in a
from one

runoff
for
the
one (eg. System

tanks of tamilnadu, bandharas of

Maharashtra, keres of Karnataka)
c) Rainfed storage structures, which
allow
moisten

runoff

to

the

stand

fertile

over

soilbed

and

of the

storage structure itself, which is
later used for growing crops (eg.
Khadins

of

and Johads

the

Jaisalmer

of the

alwar

district
district

in

Rajasthan).

(eg.
groundwater
aquifers
Bavdis of Rajasthan).
b)
Groundwater
harvesting
structures

like

wells

and

stepwells were invariably built
wherever they were possible,
especially
below
storage
structures

like

tanks

to

collect

clean seepage for use as
drinking water (eg. Several
such
the

structures
forts

can
of

be found
chittor

in
and

Ranthambhore).
c) Rainwater harvesting from
rooftops (eg. Tankas of Pali).
d) Rainwater harvesting using
artificially created catchments
which

drain

water

artificial well
land can be used

into

an

just about any
to create

such

a water harvesting structure
(eg. Kunds of Rajasthan)
e) Special rainwater harvesting
structures which help to keep
sweet rainwater from mixing
with saline groundwater and,
thus, providing a layer of
potable water (eg. Virdas of
kutch)
f) Horizontal wells similar to the
middle east to harvest seepage
down
hill
slopes
(eg.
Surangams of Kerala).
3.

Plains

and

Flood

plains

a) In the flood plains of major rivers, a) Dugwells
people built inundation channels
which

allowed

floodwaters

to

be

diverted to agricultural lands (eg.
Flood irrigation system of west
BengaD
b) In specific types of soil and
cropping regions, people also
store rainwater in the agricultural
fields by bunding them (eg. Haveli
system of Madhya Pradesh).

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4. Coastal a) Regulatory systems to control a) Dugwells
Areas
ingress of saline riverwaters,
especially during coastal tides,
and
thus
maintain
crop
productivityin the coastal plains
e .Khazana

lands of Goa.

The followingsections mention briefly the ingeniousways of local people in different
parts of India in the field of water tapping,storage and utilizationfor irrigationas well as
drinkingpurposes.

3.5.2 Western Himalayan region
This is the portionto the northof India spanningfrom Jammu and Kashmirvalleys and
going in a south-easterndirectionthroughHimachal Pradeshand ending in Uttaranchal.
This region forms the upper catchmentsof the river Indus and its five tributaries,viz,
Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Jhelum and Chenab in additionto those of the rivers Yamuna and
Ganga. Generally,terraced agricultureis commonlypracticedon the slopes, and paddy
cultivation in the valleys that separate the sub-himalayan ranges from the middle
mountains.

Here has been an extensive system of water harvesting in the western Himalayas.
Farmers have had a major traditionof buildingcanals aligned roughlywith contoursto
draw water from hill streams or springs.These canals are known as kuhls, which vary
from 1 to 15 kms. Generally, a kuhl would have a trapezoidalcross section, 0.1 to 0.2
square meters in area, and usuallyconveys a dischargeof around 15 to 100 litres per
second. Many kuhlscollect rainwaterand snow melt runningof the slopes above them,
and as a result,ocassionlyit is possibleto find a kuhl whose dischargeincrease along
its length. The dischargecan vary along with the season. A single kuhl can irrigatean
area of 80 to 400 ha through distributariesor by flooding. The irrigated land, being
situatedon hill slopes, is terraced. The system is commonat altitudesfrom 350 to 3000
m in the outer and middle Himalayawhere there is a significantdrop in elevationin the
path of a kuhl, the fall is utilizedto drive a simple machinery,like flour mills.Apart from
these water channels,anotherwater harvestingstructure-theponds is fairly common in
the Jammu region. However, these ponds now suffer from growing encroachmentof
risingpopulationat water inletsand from siltation.
It is worth notingthat utilizationof the waters of the mountainstreams is need in many
villagesto drive grindersfor grain crushing.In fact, it is the energy of the water due to
elevation difference of the water flowing from one point to another. Recently, some
villages have taken the initiativeto utilizethis traditionalsystem of water-energytapping
to drive small turbine connected to generators. The traditionalgrinders, working with
rather very low efficienciesis also being replaced by modern high-efficiencyrunners
which enable higher quantitiesof grains to the grinded per unit time compared to the
traditional

areas.

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It may be mentionedthat though not a traditionalsystem of water utilizingmethod,the
hydraulic ram (or hydram for short) is needed at many hilly streams to lift water to
fieldsat higherelevations.
In the Nainitaland Dehradundistricts,channelscalled Guhlsare used extensively.Here
streams are dammed by temporarydiagonalobstructionsmade of trees and branches,
which are used to directthe water intocontourchannelsalongthe hillside.

3.5.3 Eastern Himalayan Region
The Indianportionof the eastern Himalayanregionsconsistsof the states of Sikkimand
ArunachalPradesh Darjeelingdistrictof West Bengal.
Artificialirrigationis common in the terai region of Darjeelingdistrict.The slope of the
land and numeroussmall streamsthat exist there, make it easy to utilizethe water. The
hillsprings,calledjhoras, are the only dependablesourceof water in most places.
In Sikkim, local people have evolved efficientwater harvestingsystems together with
land management systems. Irrigationis mostly confined to rice fields and cardamom
plantations.In rice fields, irrigationis done in bench terraces. In the case of cardamom,
irrigationwater is allowed to flow without proper distributionchannels. Constructionof
water channels,regulationof water flow, and drawingof drinkingwater were traditionally
done through community participation.The common sources of drinking water are
streamsand kholas (tanks).
There are two importanttraditionalirrigationsystemsin ArunachalPradesh-theirrigation
of rice terraceswith bamboo pipes, and the Apatani system of wet rice irrigation.In the
former method, water is transportedthrough an intricatesystem of Bamboo pipes to
agriculturefields. But this system is now becomingobsolete and is being replaced by
iron pipes and channel irrigation.
The apatanis have evolved a very scientific system of field irrigation.The striking
features are partiallyflooded rice fields, and the intricatedesign of the contour dams
dividingthe plots. The valley floor has a gentle gradient, and the terraced holdingsare
laid out along the general slope. The plots are divided by about half a meter high
earthen dams supportedby bamboo frames. All holdingshave an inlet facingthe water
head and an outlet at the oppositeside. The inletsfor the low lying plots act as outlets
for the higher level plots. A deeper conduit channel connectsthe inlet point with the
outlet point. When a terrace is to be filled with water, the outlet is blocked. By opening
and blockingthe connectingducts,any field can be floodedor drainedas required.

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3.5.4 Northeastern hill ranges
This region stretches over six states Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and
Meghalaya. The water resources potential of the region is the largest in the entire
country. Consequently, there is an abundant groundwater resource. Maximum scope for
groundwater exists in Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The available surface
water resources have hardly been tapped because of the rugged nature of the terrain.
Hence, cultivation in the region is largely rainfed and jhum cultivation (shifting
cultivation) has been widely adopted.
In Nagaland, the cultivations of the southern districts mainly practice net terraced rice
cultivation. The proportion of Jhum cultivation in these areas is only 20 percent of the
total cultivated area whereas, in Tnensong and Mokokchung districts, it is as much as
70 to 80 percent.

Water harvesting practices in Meghalaya take the form of wet rice cultivation in parts of
the Jaintia hills, and of bamboo drip irrigation in other regions. This ingenious system of
tapping of stream and spring water by using bamboo pipes to irrigate plantations is
widely prevalent and so performed that about 18 to 20 litres of water entering the
bamboo pipe system per minute gets transported over several hundred metres and
finally gets reduced to 20 to 80 drops per minute at the site of the plant. The bamboo
drip irrigation system is normally used to irrigate the betel leaf or black pepper crops
planted in arecanut (betelnut) orchards or in mixed orchards. Bamboo pipes are used to
divert perennial springs on the hilltops to the lower reaches by gravity.
In Manipur, the jhum method of cultivation is still the prevalent mode of cultivation.
However, there has been some tradition of water harvesting amonst the Nagas of
Manipur.
In Mizoram, the high rainfall (about 2500mm over about eight months a year) has had ill
effects on hillslopes as deforestation has resulted in soil erosion and reduction in water
retention capacity of the soil. The traditional sources of water were the numerous
springs in the hills, known locally as tuikhur, but many have been drying up recently.
For domestic water consumption, therefore the method of rooftop rainwater harvesting
has become a widely prevalent practice in Mizoram. A common method of storing
rainwater is to place horizontal rain gutters along the sides of the sloping roof, which is
normally made of corrugated iron sheets. Rainwater pours into the pipe connected to
the tank.

3.5.5 Teesta, Brahmaputra and

arak valleys

These are the plains of the North Bengal and Assam which drain the adjacent hilly and
mountainous

terrains.

In the North Bengal, there was an old tradition of harvesting streams in the plains
abutting the hills. It has been reported that cultivators cut small irrigated channels,
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locally called jampoi, from streams which seemed suitable. As such, this method was
once the principle source of irrigation in the Jalpaguri district.
In the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys of Assam, too, there had been a long tradition of
artificial irrigation, by the means of artificial channels in the sub-mountainous tracts. In
certain parts of the state, particularly in Golaghat, Sibsagar, and Jorhat areas, there was
also a tradition to dig ponds which were mostly used for drinking water.

3.5.6 lndoGangetic plains
This is a zone of high human concentration and is a vast enclosed basin of numerous
small and large rivers, separated by alluvial divides. This region comprises of Punjab,
Harayana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Northern Uttar Pradesh in the upper Ganga plains.
The Middle Ganga plain is the transitional zone between upper and lower ganga plains,
located in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. The lower ganga plains extends over Bihar and West
BengaL
Punjab, the land of five rivers, has been rich in cultivation all through its history and
traditionally, irrigation was done with the help of canals can be found from the Mughal
times when much larger and longer canals started being constructed. For example the
Badshahi Nahar was constructed in 1633 A.D by the famous engineer and architect Ali
Mardam Khan under the orders of the Mughal emperor Shahjahan. In other places, the
Persial wheel was used extensively to lift water from wells. Among other canals, were
the Hasli canal originally built by Mughals and later revived by the sikh to feed the
sacred tank at Amritsar. In British rule, efforts to renovate the canal were made, but

finally it was scrapped and the canal in the upper Bari Doab was constructed. Another
medieval canal, the Shah-Nahar, was an inundated cut branching off from the beas.
Records show that in the Beas-Sutlej doab (the elevated region between two rivers),
irrigation was almost entirely done through wells. A normal well could draw about two
thirds of an acre. Irrigation in some areas, like Kapurthala was done by flood waters of
rivers. During the British rule, the Sirhind canal was opened which had a large extent of
the distributary channels to bring water within the boundaries of each village.
In Harayana, too there was development of canals during the Mughal period, though
prior to that the most prevalent way of irrigation was through wells. Ali Mardam Khan
begun the Rohtak canal in 1643 AD by diverting water to Delhi from the old channel,
constructed for irrigation. This was gradually extended as far as Gohana rule. The
British remodeled these canals in 1870 by putting up a weir on Yamuna at Tajewala,
which is the place where the river leaves the hills and joins the plains. The western
Yamuna canal still serves to bring water through the plains of Harayana to Delhi,
irrigating many hectares of land on the way. In the areas south of Delhi, irrigation was
done by the Agra canal which took off from a weir at Okhla on the Yamuna constructed
by the British in 1875 this canal still also is under operation.

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Since Delhi was not as populated as it is today till some years bak, many parts of the
region were used for cultivation. The rulers of Delhi had taken keen interest in providing
artificial irrigation water and a nuer of interesting engineering feats of water storage and
conveyance were constructed. Though none of these are probably used today for the
purpose they were made and even some of these have dried up, it is interesting to note
the high level of engineering skill that was existing since about a thousand years in this
region.

The Gngetic plains of Uttar Pradesh were always irrigated by wells because the ground
water level was very high, and hence boring of wells was easy and cheap in most
districts except in the sandy lowlands along the rivers. In these tracts, the wells, unless
made of masonry, broke down during the rains. Tanks were also built, which varied in
sized, generally covering less than a hectare and not more than 5 to 6 meters deep.
Usually, a kuchcha (unlined) well would be dug at the centre to reach the ground water
table. Other sources of irrigated were natural jheels, swamps and small water courses.
During British rule, irrigation canals were built in western Utter Pradesh like the Ganga
canal designed by P B Cautley in 1846, which is still working today. In Bihar, the large
number of Himalayan rivers join the Ganga from the north-Ghagra, Gandak and Kosi,
among others. Of the traditional water utilization system, the method of ahar-pyne was
particularly interesting, which probably dated for over two thousand years. The pynes
were canals that bring water into ahars, which were tanks. The ahar recharged the
ground water and thus the nearby wells generally could draw good amount of water
most parts of the year. In recent years, there have been attempts to revive this system,
especially where modern irrigation system has not spread. The pyne-ahar system also
helped to divert some part of the rain water falling with in the catchment thus reducing
flood potential of the larger rivers at lower positions of the terrain.
In Bengal, one of the traditional systems of irrigation had been the inundation canals,
which is almost totally abandoned today. In this method, the high flood waters of the
rivers were allowed to inundate the adjacent flood plains, thus bringing with it rich silt
over which good amount of crops were grown after the passage of flood. However, from
the times of the British rule, especially in the early twentieth century and even after
independence almost all rivers were embanked, leaving no room such traditional
practice of agriculture. As a result, the rivers have to flow through a much constricted
crosssectional area during floods, with a corresponding rise in flood water levels. The
falling floods have also deposited the silt on the constricted riverbed, thus raising it
dangerously high at many places. At times, the embankments breach during floods,
thus inundate the human settlements that have unauthorizedly encroached upon behind
these embankments in the flood plains.

3.5.7

The

Desert

Areas

This is the Thar desert area to the west of Rajasthan and covering parts of Gujarat,
Punjab and Harayana. Being a generally water scarce area, these regions developed
judicious methods to conserve water. Though many of these systems have been in use
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for centuries, at many places they are still being used. In the towns, however, new
methods of water supply have put some of these in disuse but very recently, with
growingawarenessabout scarcityof water, many such systemsare being revived.
The wells have been the most importantsource of water both for irrigationand drinking
purposesin the Jodhpurdistrict.The land irrigatedby wells was referred to as chahi.
The Luni is an importantriver in Jodhpur.Duringrare floods,riverwater overflowedand
cropsof wheat and barleywere grownon the saturatedsoil. Tanks have also been used
at many places. The land irrigatedby canals emanatingfrom large tanks was known as
canals nahri. Villagersalso collectedrainwaterin covered pits called kund or in simple
excavationscalled sor, where the groundwas hard. The practiceof water conservation
was also very strongin this region. In some householdsin Jaisalmerdistrict,even today
people bath on the wooden platformunderwhich a vessel is kept. Water that drains into
this vessel is used for animal consumption.Similarly,in parts of Jaisalmer, Pokhranand
Phalodi, people bath on a stone block outsidethe house, from which water drains into
an animalwateringtank.
The cities in Rajasthanwere built around areas that had some sort of water source. All
the forts had tanks and wells. Rooftoprainwaterharvestingwas commonacrosstowns
and villages. Rainwaterthat falls on the slopingroofsof houses is taken througha pipe
into an undergroundtank built in the main house or courtyard.The first spell of rain
would not be collectedas this would clean the roof and the pipes. Subsequentrainwater
would be collected in undergroundtanks, which would as large as a big room. It is
reportedthat thoughthis method is graduallygivingway to modern methodsliked piped
municipalwater supply, many houses in Phalodi, still about 2000 still maintain their
tanks.

It is, however, unfortunatethat many traditionalwater harvestingstructureshave been
put to disuse, for example, that of Baiji-ka-talabof Jodhpurwhich was huge reservoir
collectingrain water for use in drier months.Many bavdis, or step wells, of these may
be revivedas the risingpopulationwould generate much pressureon the existingwater
supply system of the town in the near future. Of course, there one other reservoirlike
the Ranisar Lake situated inside the Mehrangarh fort, which is still use today. The
spilled over water of this lake is again collected in another, called the Padansar lake.
The water from these lakes not only provides direct supply, but also recharges the
groundwhich keeps the wells and bavdisdownthe hillfull of water throughoutthe year.
In Gujarat, thar desert extends over a large area. Here too, very similar methods of
water harvesting,like tanks wells and stepwellshave been in use, perhapsfrom time as

oldas the8" centuryAD. Interestingly,
forthe nomadic
Madharitribesmen
of Gujarat,
virdas are the principalmeans of water harvesting.Virdas are shallowwells dug in low
depressions and collect enough rain water to ensure the availability of freshwater
throughoutthe year.

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3.5.8 Central Highlands
This region comprises of the semi arid uplands of eastern Rajasthan, the Aravali range
and the uplands of Banas-chambal basins. In Rajasthan, the Jhansi-Mirzapur uplands
of Uttar Pradesh; the eastern hilly regions of Dangs and Panchnabal in Gujarat;
northern Madhya Pradesh uplands; the Sagar, Bhopal and the Ratlam plateaus of
central Madhya Pradesh; and the Narmada region, include the flanks of the Vindhya
and Satpura ranges of southern Madhya Pradesh.
In these areas generally, there is little cultivation on the hillsides. The cultivated area is
generally confined to the valleys and the low ground between the hills, where the soil is
alluvial. In many of these regions, wells were the chief irrigation source. Tanks were
also constructed in and around many forts that are scattered in the region. In some
parts of Madhya Pradesh, especially in the upper part of Narmada valley, a unique
cultivation system based on water harvesting and runoff farming exists, which is known
locally as the haveli system. Rain water is held in embankment fields, enclosed on four
sides until sowing time. Water is let out as soon as the land is dry and the fields are
sown. After this, no watering is needed for the crops. The haveli system is location
specific, like other ingenious runoff farming practices of the country. The soil, where it is
practiced, is heavy black clay, which holds large amount of water. The soil is unfit for
kharif crops like paddy or cotton but it is excellent for wheat. An important reason for the
development of the haveli system was the need to control weeds.
It may be worth noting that there is a grand example of mughal water engineering works
for water supply to the city of Berhampur, by the side of Tapi river. The system, which is
still active today, consists of bhandaras or storage tanks which collect ground water
from the underground springs flowing down from the Satpura hills towards the Tapi. The
groundwater is intercepted at four places northwest of Berhampur. Water is carried
through subterranean conduits with a number of connected wells to a collection
chamber, called jail karanj, and from there to the town.
Though not in function any more, there are three ancient water tanks on the hills of
Sanchi, a city renowned for its Buddhist past, which are constructed at about the third
century BC.

3.5.9 Eastern highlands
This area extends from Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, eastern Orissa up to Chhota Nagpur
plateau. There is evidence of rich tradition of water harvesting systems of this region. In
most of these areas, the undulating terrain has been utilized by constructing small
bunds either locally by erstwhile Zamindars, British administrative officials or by the
respective state governments, usually under minor irrigation schemes, which is
mentioned later in this chapter.

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3.5.10

Deccan

Plateau

The Deccan plateau consists of the whole of the south Indian table land. The plateau
occupies large parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka and the eastern half of Andhra
Pradesh.

In Maharashtra, the well irrigation was fairly extensively used and was the principal form
of irrigation in the central deccan region. Numerous dams, known locally as bandharas,
as a permanent or temporary nature built either of earthern or masonry, were built
across

rivers

and

streams

in western

deccan.

These

structures

would

either

raise

the

water level to enable water to form large reservoirs. Where a bandhara was built across
a small stream, the water supply would usually last for a few months. When the water
level dropped below the level of a channel, a wooden shovel or scoop was used to lift
the water. The system of bandhara making is still prevalent in many places and people
use modern day ingenious methods like used cement gunny bags filled with soil piled
up to form a dam like structure across small rivers. In some places, the system was
extended to what is known as phad system, which is the division of the command area
into smaller zones called phads. In fact the bandhara based water diversion through
canal is very similar to any modern day irrigation system. The cropping pattern in the
phads follows local wisdom. In a year of plentiful water, the community may decide to
grow sugarcane in most of the phads, whereas in drier years, sugarcane may be
cultivated in few phads, with driver crops being planted on others and even leaving a
few phads follow, if needed.
Traditional water harvesting for irrigation in Karnataka used a number of systems: water
was supplied directly from river channels; from tanks supplied by river channels; from a
series of tanks situated in valleys of rivers and streams, and, by wells and springs
locally called talpariges. At the beginning of the twentieth century, channel irrigation
was initiated by the British administration but restricted largely to the south of the
erstwhile Mysore state. Irrigation was also obtained in the Mysore state from river-fed
tanks using the waters of the Cauvery, Hemavati, Yegachi, Lakshman Tirtha, Kabini,
Swarnavati, Nagu and Shimsha. In north Karnataka, the Tungabhadra ancients (dykes
across rivers, or bunds) and channels partially irrigated the Bellary, Dharwar, and
Bijapur districts of the former Bombay presidency. Tank irrigation was also extremely
important in Karnataka and it was found predominantly in Bijapur, Shimoga, Kadar,
Bellary, Hasson, Tumkur, Kolar and Banglore districts. Even though they were not the
primary irrigation source in the mysore state, tanks were common in many regions.
Many of them are still active but others have become defunct or the water quality has
become degraded, or for the famous tank Hussainsagar in Hyderabad, which was built
in the sixteenth century by the Nizam rulers of the princely state. In fact, two other tanks
were built later for supplying water to the city of Hyderabad-Himayat Nagar and
Osaman Nagar. However, over the recent past these tanks have not filled up during
rains probably because of extensive water tapping in the contributing catchment.
The tradition of tanks, some of which have been built as far back as the fourteenth

century, remained the largest source of irrigation in Andhra Pradesh until mid-1960s.
Version 2 CE IIT, Kharagpur

The number of tanks in operation over a span of thirty years, as shown in the following
table, may give an idea of the relative declination of the dependence on tanks.
However, wells for irrigation have increased lately. This might be a reason for lowering
of ground water table in many regions, with a resulting cutoff in recharge to tanks from
ground water and consequent drying up of some of the surface tanks. There are about
50,000 tanks in Andhra Pradesh.

Districts

Drought
Prone
Districts

Prakasam
Kurnool

Anantapur
Cuddapah
Chittoor

Decline of tank Irrigation in Andhra Pradesh

Mahbubnag
Number

ar
Nalgonda
Rangareddy

1955-56
of Tanks

1986-89
Number

of Tanks

Area3

Area under tanks and wells, and rainfall in drought-prone areas of Andhra Pradesh

District
ha ha ha ha mm mm
Prakasam

NA

Kurnool

NA

60000

7833

35667

Anantapur
Cuddapah

31439
36108

Chittoor

37799

Rangareddy
Mahbubnagar

NA
20747

46333
78000

Nal 0 onda

27089

81667

Total

81333
80000
1 12333

W

Source: Dying Wisdom: A publication by Centre for Science and Environment, 1997

3.5.11

Western

Ghats

This constitutes a narrow long range of hills running from north to south along the
western coast of India and spreads over parts of the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. Though there has been very little documented evidence
about the traditional water harvesting practices of the people living in these hill ranges, it
is gathered that ponds and tanks for water storage and diversion channels from streams
has been practiced for many years for paddy cultivation and orchards.
Wells are common in the coastal belt aquifers of Kerala, while medium to large diameter
open dug wells and bore wells are common in the midlands. In the highlands, springs,
borewells, dugwells, and mediumsized surface tanks are common water harvesting
structures. However, the Kasaragad district of northern Malabar has a special
harvesting structure called surangam, which is actually adapted from the qanats that
existed in Mesopotania and Babylon at around 700BC. It has been found out by the
Centre for Water Resources Development and Management in Kochikode that there
has been a rise in the number of surangams in the recent years. A survey has also
indicated that about sixty percent of the surangams have perennial water supply, though
the summer discharge varied from 2 to 60 litres per minute. Surangams are found to be
used for both domestic water supplies as well as for irrigation purposes.

3.5.12 Western coastal plains
This region stretches southwards from the hot and near-arid Kathiawar peninsula of
Gujarat to the humid Malabar Coast of Kerala.

The Kathiawar peninsula and the Gujarat plains lie midway between the barren Thar
desert and the humid Konkan region. Here, water is found close to the surface and
numerous wells, called vavs or bavdis are used as sources of water for drinking. In
some |owlying districts to the north and northwest of the peninsula, the ground water is
saline, and as a result almost every village has a pond or reservoir. In Surat, Bharuch
and Ahmedabad

districts and the erstwhile Baroda state, wells, lakes and tanks are

important sources of water, both for irrigation and domestic use. In Ahmedabad, a
number of lakes and reservoirs were built to store water and the Kankariya Lake was
built

in 1451

AD.

The Konkan region of Maharashtra is a narrow belt of land which lies to the west of
Sahyadri range, and is characterized by high humidity and heavy rainfall. Fertile alluvial
soils in the lowland regions are used to cultivate rice. These soils are free of salt and the
fields are often embanked (bandhim) and flooded during the monsoon. Wells, lakes
and reservoirs also were important source for irrigation and drinking. The larger rivers
are saline ingressed due to their proximity to the sea and the waters are only
periodically sweet. Though there are no large canals, often water from small streams
are diverted through narrow water courses (pats) to irrigate rice fields. Field
embankments (shilotris) were an interesting feature of tillage in Colaba and Thana
districts. These embankments were made to keep out the tidal waters.
The Khazana lands of Goa plays a crucial rola in the states coastal ecology and cover
more than 18,000 ha. The term Khazana is said to be derived from the portugese
casino, which means a big rice field, and are the low lying agricultural fields irrigated
with water from rivers, which is controlled through sluice gates two major rivers, the
Zuari and the Mandovi, form the food bowl of Goa. Paddy is grown in the Khazana fields
during monsoon when rain water reduces the salt in the water to its lowest level, bunds
or embankments made of locally available materials like mud, straw, bamboo, twigs and
branches from mangrove, laterite stones etc. These bunds protect the fields from being
flooded

with

undesirable

brackish

water.

In the coastal regions of Karnataka, cultivators have used springs and streams skillfully
by diverting numerous channels and constructing temporary dams. In some places, like
uttara Kamada, the lowland coastal belt is narrower and the Sahyadris rise to the east.
Its lowland and upland valleys have basins crowded with spice and betal garden. The
water to these gardens are brought from springs which abound at the head of every
valley, and generally collected in small ponds or reservoir and from there channeled to
the gardens. Water is also brought by channels from small rivulets which abound the
area. In the dry season, dams of earth, stones and tree branches are made across
streams and the land in the vicinity watered. The dam is removed at the close of the dry
season or left to be swept away later by floods.
Irrigation in Kerala in the past was restricted to the southern regions of the erstwhile
Travancore state and to irrigate rice and garden crops. It has been observed that it is an
age-old custom in the coastal regions of Kerala to dam small streams and divert water
by gravity flow for irrigation of low-lying lands around. The cultivators themselves used
Version 2 CE IIT, Kharagpur

to temporary bunds put up during seasons of cultivation which were washed off in
subsequent floods.

3.5.13

Eastern

Ghats

This is the rugged, hilly terrain running almost parallel to the eastern coast of India,
covering parts of the states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and TamiINadu. In Orissa
region of the Eastern Ghats, traditionally, people depended on tanks for irrigation and
terracing for cultivation. In Andhra Pradesh region, channel irrigation was traditionally
common though tanks were also dug.
The high mountains of the Nilgiri in TamilNadu rise at the southern-most end of the
eastern ghats and mark the meeting point of the eastern and western ghats. The
continuous slope from the mountains to the sea was made use of by ancient rulers of
Madurai to establish a system of irrigation. Whenever the surface dipped a little on
either side of the Vaigai River, a strong curved embankment was raised with its concave
side facing a river and a channel branching off near the top of the embankment. During
floods, water would run through the channel to low lying lands and fill the tanks. Though
no artificial irrigation has been practiced in the Nilgiri district, in the Madurai and
Coimbatore districts, channel tank, and we||irrigation is widespread.

3.5.14

Eastern

Coastal

Plains

This is a wide and long stretch of land that lies between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay
of Bengal and also covers parts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.
The coastal plains of Orissa, comprises of three district geographic divisions-the salt
tract; the arable tract, which is the main rice producing zone of the state, and the
submountainous tract, where the delta meets the mountainous tract. Generally, the
mainstay of irrigation sources in the hilly areas had been the tanks. Some tanks were
excavated and fed by natural streams, others were made by constructing embankments
across drains. In the plains, the chief source of irrigation was flood water which was let
out into cultivated areas through embankment sluices. Earthen dams were also
constructed across minor drainage channels to raise the level of water to irrigate
adjacent fields.
The coastal plains of Andhra Pradesh comprise a belt of varying width which extends
from Visakhapatnam in the north to Nellore in the south. The two main river systems of
this region are the Krishna and Godavari. Numerous small streams and rivers flow down
the hills which have traditionally been used to irrigate crops either through cuts in
embankments or by tanks fed by these streams. In the Visakhapatnam district, the
Eastern Ghats give rise to numerous streams that flow directly into the sea or to the
Godavari. It has been recorded that traditionally weed and brushwood dams were built
Version 2 CE IIT, Kharagpur

across the streams and flood waters were diverted directly into fields or indirectly
through storage tanks. The main rivers that were used for irrigation in these plains were
the Varaha, Sarada, Nagavali and the Suvarnamukhi. There were a number of ancient
dams, called the anicuts, on these rivers. In the Krishna and Godavari deltas, irrigation
largely depends on channels drawn from the rivers. Hence, on the whole, irrigation in
the coastal plains of Andhra Pradesh was dependent on tanks and anicuts, many of
which are still in use today.
The region between the Nilgiri hills and the coast of Tamilnadu covers a large tract of
land that suffers from rather scanty rainfall. Hence, artificial irrigation has been practiced
for centuries. The various sources of irrigation in the erstwhile Madras presidency were
rivers, reservoirs, tanks and wells. Anicuts (diversion weirs) on rivers like Tambrapami,
Noel, Tungabhadra, Amaravati, Vaigai and Pennar were constructed by local rulers,
much before the British rule, to irrigate the adjacent areas through systems of irrigation
channels. It is indeed marvelous that many of these systems are still in use today. For
example, the grand anicut on the river cauvery was build by the Chola king, Kari, in the
second century AD, and is still in use in slightly remodeled form. Apart from anicuts,
there has also been a strong tradition of irrigation through tanks, called eris. The eris
have played several important roles in maintaining ecological harmony as flood coastal
systems, preventing soil erosion and wastage of runoff during periods of heavy rainfall,
and recharging the ground water in the surrounding areas. It may be noted that the
tanks of south India are mostly found in the red soil regions. Though they supply many
villages with drinking water, their primary purpose is irrigation, especially of paddy fields.
It has been estimated that in Tamilnadu, there are about 30,000 tanks or eris which

account for an estimated 50,000 Km long embankments and about 300,000 masonry
structures. The eris usually have embankments on three sides and one side is left open
for water to flow in. The water stored in the eris is released through sluices. Eris have
two sluices-the mettu madagu, which is on a higher elevation, is usually opened to
release water, and the palla madagu, which is at a lower level, is opened once the
water stops flowing out of the metta madugu. Tanks also have an outlet (kalanga) at
the full tank

3.5.15

level.

The

Islands

There are two sets of islands in India the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of
Bengal, and the Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea.
The Shompen and Jarawa tribals of Andaman make extensive use of split bamboos in
their water harvesting systems. A full length bamboo is cut longitudinally, and placed
along a gentle slope with the lower end leading into a shallow pit. These serve as
conduits for rainwater which is painstakingly collected, drop by drop, in pits called
jackwells. Among the ones, buckets made of logs and sometimes of giant bamboo, are
often found suspended from the roofs of the huts along with nets and baskets to trap
rain water.

Version 2 CE IIT, Kharagpur

In Car Nicobar the tribals, mainly Nicobarese and Jarawas, use circular dugwells
ranging from 2 to 20 metre in diameter, since the water table is just about 2 to 3 meters
from ground.
In the Lakshdweep islands, the residents usually have wells for meeting their drinking
water requirements. Many of these wells are stepwells and almost every house hold has
a dugwell for domestic purposes. In Kavaratti, there are about 800 dugwells while in
Amini there are more than 650. Presently, however, rainwater harvesting (from roofs)
structures are being constructed all over the islands.

3.5.16 Minor Irrigation
Minor irrigation schemes have probably evolved as a systematic development only after
the countrys independence and with the initiation of the FiveYear Plan. These include
all ground water and surface water irrigation projects having culturable command area
of up to 2000 Ha. Naturally, the groundwater schemes require pumping up of water from
tube wells, whereas surface water schemes may include those which involve flow due
to gravity as well as lift by pumping from surface water flow irrigation projects include
storage and diversion works and are the only means of irrigation in several areas, like
the undulating terrains of Central India and the ghats or the hilly tracts of north and
north east India. Such projects offer considerable opportunity for rural employment and
also help in hard rock areas. When available surface water cannot be used for irrigation
through construction of flow irrigation schemes due to topographical limitations, surface
water lift irrigation schemes provide the solution.
As such, ground water development is a major activity of the minor irrigation
programme. It is mainly a cultivators own programme implemented primarily through
institutional sources. Adequate energy for pumping ground water is essential for near
normal production of crops when there is severe drought. Hence, energy management
is also essential.

Under surface flow minor irrigation schemes, water tanks are created by constructing
bunds across depressions in undulating terrains. There should be a properly designed
spillway for overflowing excess rain water during monsoons and sluice gates for
releasing controlled quantities of water to canals. It is obvious that the amount of water
expected in the reservoir would be proportional to the catchment area draining into the
reservoir

and the rainfall

in the catchment.

For lift irrigation schemes, pumps have to be installed on the river or canal banks with
the suction pipe long enough to be immersed into the flowing water body and should
also ensure sufficient draft. At times, floating barges moored to the banks, may have to
be installed to accommodate the pumps. Here, the suction pipe would be less but the lift
pipe would be longer.

Version 2 CE IIT, Kharagpur