“The development of irrigation has outrun its administration…” noted the Chief Engineer of the Upper Ganga Canal in 1869. More recently, a series of reports on the state of India irrigation suggest quite the obverse of Colonel W.Greathed’s glum observation; that it is India’s administration, in fact, that has outrun her irrigation. Trends gleaned by compiling figures from a multitude of government sources including the Planning Commission, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Agriculture indicate in spite of massive public investments in dams and river basin projects over the last ten years, the area under canal fed irrigation is actually declining.

Big dams and irrigation projects remain one of the most controversial issues in India’s environment-development debates, but the latest data suggest that those backing these mega-projects might have to re-consider their positions.

“In twelve years from 1991-92 to 2003-04, the country spent Rs 99,610 crores on Major and Medium Irrigation Projects,” says Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asian Network of Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP), the NGO that has compiled these figures, “But data put out by the Agriculture Ministry (based on actual field data) suggests that the net irrigated area covered by these canals has actually reduced from 17.5million hectares (mha) to 14.6mha.” Thakkar explains that Net Irrigated Area (NIA) refers to the area of land serviced by irrigation canals; wherein lands used for more than one crop per year are counted only once. Gross Irrigated Area, another measure adopted by the government, includes land as many times as it is sown in a year. (Thus, a one hectare piece of land sown twice a year will be counted as one hectare in the NIA survey, but as 2 hectares in the GIA survey.)

Further, data available from the Ministry of Water Resources website suggests that a total of 210 major and medium irrigation projects were completed in the period of 1990 to 2004, so the money was evidently spent on tangible assets that can be evaluated, however this only makes the decline of canal fed irrigation more puzzling.

At present there are few answers to explain this trend, but possible reasons include siltation of reservoirs and canals – which is a problem that has plagued India’s canal irrigation network since its inception and severely reduces the carrying capacity the system. This could mean that the increased capacity of new projects has been offset by the gradual dilapidation of older ones. The World Bank’s 2005 “India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future” estimates that maintaining India’s existing infrastructure alone will cost the government a whopping Rs 17,000 crore a year. According to the report current spending on maintenance is less than 10 per cent.

Another possibility could be the over-exploitation of river basins in the country. “Each river basin has a limited number of projects it can support,” explained sources in the Planning Commission, “After a point, each project only serves to deprive down-stream projects of their water.” Sources also stated that most projects are planned using “historical” data which is often more than fifty years old; however, climate change, existing irrigation demands and the rise of townships and municipalities on the upper reaches of rivers has meant using fifty-year averages of the rate of flow of rivers has limited, if any, utility.

“It is difficult of pinpoint the exact causes of the declining efficiency of surface irrigation in India,” admits Dr Tushaar Shah, Principal Scientist at the Anand branch office of the International Water Management Insitute, “However, this is a trend that is visible across south Asia.” Dr Shah’s study of 15 Indian states based on the Minor Irrigation Census of 1993-94 and 2000-01 illustrates that surface irrigated area in these states dropped by nearly 30 per cent, while groundwater irrigation increased by 25 per cent. The study also looked at data from Pakistani Punjab and Sindh – where surface irrigation fell 12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively- and Bangladesh, where surface irrigated area fell by 10 per cent.

Data from the Agricultural Department seems to support Dr Shah’s hypothesis. According to their surveys, in the period of our study (1992-2003), the total Net Irrigated Area has increased from 48.02 mha to about 57 mha in spite of declining surface irrigation. So where has the increase come from? A source-wise examination of the NIA figures released by the government confirm what irrigation specialists and water-rights activists have suggested for many years – that a significant percentage of India’s farmers now rely almost exclusively on groundwater to service their irrigation needs. In the period that India spent almost One lakh crores on expanding surface irrigation, groundwater use for irrigation has grown from 24.69 mha in 1990-91 to 35.89 mha in 2003-04 – a jump of almost 43 per cent.

Dr Shah has written extensively on water resources and irrigation in South Asia, most recently for his forthcoming book, Taming the Anarchy? Groundwater Governance in South Asia, an extract of which was made available to me. In his book, and in a telephonic interview, Dr Shah explained that the conditions conducive to the success of canal irrigated areas no longer exist in South Asia. Successful canal fed irrigation is dependent on a host of factors –particularly homogeneity of users and needs, a strong centralizing authority and meticulous maintenance programme. Currently, India’s irrigation infrastructure fulfills none of these requirements.

Irrigation demand can be understood in terms of the volume and the frequency of water required. While canal fed irrigation provides water with the attributes desirable for crops like rice and wheat (large volumes of water at fixed times), a diversification into vegetables, fruits or even fodder (for dairy farming) places very different demands on the irrigation system. New varieties of crops and seeds require more flexible irrigation schemes that provide specific amounts of water at specific times that require a more atomized water distribution system. Groundwater irrigation, by contrast, offers a great degree of control over the volume and frequency of irrigation and the easy availability of pumps and inexpensive electricity has meant that groundwater in India has been exploited to the point that the Central Groundwater Commission has declared 1065 blocks across the country as “critical” or “over exploited”. Thus, Dr Shah believes that while “Canal fed irrigation in India is dead,” available resources should now be directed at conserving our scarce groundwater water reserves and implementing massive groundwater recharge programmes in crisis-prone areas. There are signs that his ideas being recognized by those in power.

A policy-proposal intended for the Finance Secretary, points out that almost two thirds of India’s landmass is underlain by hard-rock geology which diminishes the efficacy of natural groundwater recharge through surface percolation. The note calls for a low-cost dug-well recharge pilot-programme in the 100 most critical districts in the country accompanied by an effective rain-water harvesting and groundwater conservation programme.

To his credit, in the Budget Speech for 2007-08, Finance Minister P.Chidambaram acknowledged the extent of India’s groundwater crisis, and announced a sum of Rs 1,800 crore for groundwater recharge schemes in a total of 100 districts spread across seven states. However, the Ministry of Water Resources is yet to finalize the scheme.

“The Working Group on Water Resources had the onerous task of finalizing its recommendations in respect of targets and outlay for irrigation, flood control and command area development” notes the foreword of the report of the Working Group Water Resources, Planning Commission. Apart from the Chairperson’s frank admission on the nature of this task, the report recommends that in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary, the 11th Five year plan spend an additional Rs 1,53,000 crore in to boost surface irrigation through major and medium irrigation projects. “Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days,” says the Book of Ecclesiastes, assuring the faithful that all efforts are eventually repaid. Having cast out loaf loads of money over many years, perhaps it is time the Ministry of Water Resources set out to find it.

Aman Sethi