Management of Irrigation Schemes in Himachal Pradesh, 1992, by D.V Singh & B.K. Sikka
Abstract: In Himachal Pradesh cultivated land accounts for 19 per cent of total geographical area and out of this 15.36 per cent is under irrigation. This area is being irrigated from number of sources such as Kuhls, minor irrigation schemes, tube-wells etc. Due to varied agro-climatic condition the sources of irrigation in various part of the state are different. The district-wise numbers of sources of water supply are given in Table 1.1, which shows that canals are the main source of irrigation water supply in Sirmour and Bilaspur districts and tube-wells in Una and Solan districts. The district-wise figures for irrigated area from different sources have also been presented in Table 1.2. This table reveals that Kuhls alone account for more than 85 per cent of total irrigated area in the state during 1987-88. It is interesting to note that the share of irrigated crops (17.75%) in total cropped area is almost stagnant since 1971-72 despite a lot of efforts have already been made by the State Government. On of the reason for this stagnancy seems to be under reporting of irrigated area by concerned authorities as the present study clearly indicates that only 3.13 percent of actual irrigated area has been recorded in revenue records of Panesh scheme. In addition to above some of the reasons for this situation my be uneven topography, terraced field, small holdings which in turn limit the private investment as well as public investment in the development of irrigation potential inspite of abundant amount of water for irrigation being available. Beside this, temporal distribution of water flows, incompatibility between hill terrain and conventional approach of irrigation systems and failure to develop appropriate irrigation design suited to the terrain are the important factors responsible for this.
During last two decades some progress has been achieved for the development of irrigation in the state by way of installation or creation of minor irrigation projects with the aid of international Agencies, though a significant gap between potential and actual utilization has been noticed. The gap between command area and irrigated area has been a classic feature of the irrigation scene in India and in the State too. 2 In a study on Water Management in drought prone area of palamau district of Bihar it was observed that the engineers and planners of the project often blamed farmers for poor utilization of water as a demand problem for justifying the gap between potential and actual utilization. 3 They explained unsatisfactory performance of scheme in terms of backwardness of farmers and negligible participation. However, the study reveals that it is primarily a supply problem and the poor performance is inherent in the very design of these schemes, which , are based on unrealistic assumptions and incomplete data. It was further observed that some factor which hindered the efficient use of water are lack of suitable command, absence of field channels, faulty lining, poor concrete work, wrong routing of channels, lack of coordination and poor maintenance. A study on management of irrigation in Mehsana district of Gujarat observed that in flow or canal irrigation the problem of wastage of water, unauthorized use and pilferage is very acute. 4 Moreover, when water is limited its supply level recedes as it travels from head toward tail end. Those located on the front ends have a higher accessibility of water and tend to use it excessively. This is how tailenders quota of water is pre-empted during transit and limits supply. The study further observed that about 10 per cent of water is used by way of un reporting and upto 50 per cent irrigation is unauthorized. Similar observations were also made by K. Palanisaoni in his work Irrigation Water Management.
