Water Users Association and Irrigation Management: with Special Reference to Environmental Problems
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Water Users Association and Irrigation Management: with Special Reference to Environmental Problems A thesis submitted to the University of Mysore, Mysore, through the Institute for Social and Economic Change (lSEC), Bangalore, for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies by G. Mini Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore January 2006 i DECLATATION I hereby declare that the thesis titled "Water Users Association and Irrigation Management: With Special Reference to Environmental Problems" is the result of research work carried out by me at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) Bangalorc, under the guidance of Dr. M Venkata Reddy formerly Associate Professor, Ecology Economics Unit ISEC, Bangalore. I further declare that it has not been previously submitted either in part or full to this or any other university for any degree, diploma, associateship or fellowship. Due acknowledgements have been made whenever anything has been borrowed or cited from other sources. (0 Mini) Date 91 \ \ 0 b Phone: 91 080-23215468/5592/5519 FAX: 91-80-23217008 Website: www.isec.ac.in Email: [email protected] INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE Nagarabhavi PO, BANGALORE-560 072 An all India Institute for inter-disciplinary research and training in the Social Sciences CERTIFICATE I certify that I have guided and supervised the preparation and writing of the present thesis on the topic "Water Users Association and Irrigation Management:with Special Reference to Environmental Problems" by Ms. G Mini who worked on the subject at the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore. Date: 5-1-2006 Acknowledgement I express my deep sense of gratitude to my research supervisor, Prof M Venkata Reddy This work would not have taken the present shape but for the inspiring gUidance and tenacious supervision of him at the institute, who is at present ''Team Leader and M&L Specialist" for Karnataka Community Based Tank Management Project, Bangalore. He helped to shape my disjoint thoughts into arguments and encouraged my somewhat fair attempts to combine socio-economic and environmental relationships in irrigated agriculture. I also thank Prof Gopal Kadekodi, present Director and to Prof Govinda Rao and Dr P V Shenoy former Directors of the Institute, for their constant encouragement and support. I deeply appreciate the warmth and acceptance that I received from the villagers in Gundur and Hagedal during my fieldwork I wish to express my gratitude to all my respondents for having patiently listened to me and for replying to my questions and sharing their knowledge and experience and hence enabled me to complete this study My interactions with them have contributed beyond measure in developing my own insights towards understanding a very complex issue. During my fieldwork in Gangawathl; Chenappa and Parimalakka housed me, fed me and gave me a social base, I am grateful to them. In Gundur Murahkrishna and Jyothiakka warmly welcomed me into their house and devoted a great deal of time and energy in helping me become familiar with the local language in understanding certain concepts. I am thankful to the Administrator, CADA, Munirabad, Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, Munirabad and other officials for providing me with the necessary information, office documents and reports. The help and support on the logistics front provided by the Irrigation Deparment and CADA was invaluable. I acknowledge Prof R Maria Saleth who kept reminding me about the importance of not rushing to conclusions without doing proper homework My belief in the worth of inter/multi-disciplinary analysis was nurtured by exchanges with friends at the workshop organised by Wageningen Agricultural University The Netherlands. I thank Dr Peter Mollinga for giving me an opportunity to participate in these workshops and whose Ideas were useful in completion of this work I am obliged to Dr R S Deshpande, and Dr K V Raju, for their valuable comments that helped improve the contents. A while after I did my fieldwork I was awarded fieldwork grant by International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka. The grant was of great help in undertaking my later field research and the support is gratefully acknowledged I have received excellent support from the members of the computer unit and library of ISEC and I am thankful to them. I express my deep sense of gratitude to the Institute of Economic Growth, Centre for Development Studies, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Delhi school of Economics where I could get many books, documents, journals and reports. I would like to acknowledge Dr K M MaathOl; Dr Anand Inbanathan and Dr Madeshwaran for extending friendship and warmth. I have benefited greatly from the opportunity given to students to present bi-annual seminars. The comments given by the panellists are gratefully acknowledged It helped me to clarify and organise my information and thoughts. Mr. K S Narayana showed keen interest in my enquiries for which I am indebted to him. I thank Dr Narayan Raj for extending upright support to me. A special thanks goes to Prof G K Karanth for being with me in the hours of need I am grateful to Dr Rangaswamy and his sisters, Sunitha and Manjula, for providing me a home away from home. I spent many long evenings with my friends Gagan, Deepthi and Deepika. I will not pretend that they significantly advanced my research, but more valuable they provided was many hours of companionship and cheerfulness. I appreciate Amal for many long afternoons of open-ended discussion and for his careful consideration of my work. I appreciate my friends Shivu, Jacks, KB, Sudhl; Sishya, Anitha, and Asha for provIding me the much needed encouragement and support. I owe special thanks to Geetacheriamma, Maitrattae, Jyothi aunty, Sum; Vim; Dr. Prashant, Manas,; Sashi and Ranganath who has been a moral support more than I can adequately acknowledge. I would lIke to thank Piush, Gayatrl; Deepa, and Vinayan for their concern and support during various stages of my work. I fondly remember Madhu and Deepas amma for extending affection. A special thanks to Padmamma for shouldering some of my responsIbilities. I cherish Radha and Mohan who would never fail to ask how my work was coming along. My in-laws have stood by me selflessly and I owe them much more than the usual expression of thanks. That I will gain more time to spend with Bhanu and my little daughter Bhavana has been a considerable motivation to finish this work. Lastly and most importantly I would like to dedicate this work to my father Govindan Kutty and my mother Durga Devl: Contents Page. No. Chapter 1 Introduction 1 - 21 Appendix 1.1 General Characteristics ofSaline and Waterlogged Soils 22-24 Appendix 1.2 Committees for Addressing Salinity and Waterlogging 25 Chapter 2 Review of literature 26 - 50 Chapter 3 Objectives, Methodology and Theoretical Perspective 51 - 66 Appendix 3.1 Salient Features of Tungabhadra Project 67- 68 Chapter 4 Profile of the Sample Villages 69 - 91 Appendix 4.1 Gundur Water Users' Association 92 - 96 Chapter 5 Farmers' Knowledge and Perceptions on Irrigation-Induced Environmental Problems 97 - 123 Chapter 6 Strategies Adopted to Manage Waterlogging and Salinity 124 - 148 Chapter 7 Water Users' Association and Irrigation System Performance 149 - 188 Chapter 8 Impact of Water Users' Association 189 - 204 Appendix 8.1 205 - 206 Water Availability at Farm Level Chapter 9 Summary and Conclusion 207 - 218 Bibliography 219 - 238 LIST OF TABLES Page. No. 1.1: Outlay and Development of Irrigation Potential. 4 1.2: Extent of Waterlogging and Salt Affected Areas as Estimated by Various Agencies. II 1.3: Incidence of Waterlogging and Salinity in Selected Irrigation Command Areas. 12 3.1: Total Number of Farmers and Sample Fanners in Hagedal. 55 3.2: Total Number of Farmers and Sample Farmers in Gundur. 55 4.1: Designed Discharge in Distributary 3112. 73 4.2: Caste-wise Distribution of Sample Households. 77 4.3: Distribution of Respondents by Age Groups. 77 4.4: Distribution of Respondents by Education. 78 4.5: Distribution of Respondents by Mother Tongue. 78 4.6: Distribution of Respondents by Household Size. 79 4.7: Distribution of Respondents by Occupation. 79 4. 8: Distribution of Respondents by Experience in Irrigated Agriculture. 80 4.9: Distribution of Fanners by Location in Gundur. 81 4.10: Distribution of Fanners by Location in Hagedal. 81 4.11: Distribution of Fanners by Size of Holdings and Location in Gundur. 82 4.12: Distribution of Fanners by Size of Holdings and Location in Hagedal. 83 4.13: Crops Grown, Crop Localization, Unauthorization, and Violation in Gundur and Hagedal. 85 5.1: Characteristic of Soil Types in Gundur and Hagedal. 99 5.2: Areas Affected Adversely in DY 31. 101 5.3: Distribution of Sample Farmers under Different Levels of Salinity and Waterlogging in Gundur. 104 5.4: Distribution of Sample Fanners under Different Levels of Salinity and Waterlogging in Hagedal. 105 5.5: Direction of Change of Waterlogged Area. 107 5.6: Direction of Change of Saline Area. 108 5.7: Fanners' Perceptions of Causes of Waterlogging and Salinity. 109 5.8: Level of Knowledge about the Localization Pattern. I 13 5.9: Violation of Cropping Pattern by Fanners. 114 5.10: Reasons for Violation of Cropping Pattern by Location. 116 6.1: Curative Strategies Adoptcd by the Fanners to Solve Adverse Effects on Soil. 125 6.2: Preventive Measures Adopted by the Fanners to Solve Adverse Effects on Soil. 127 6.3: Water Applied During Kharif Crop Cycle in Gundur and Hagedal. 132 6.4: Distribution of Fanners who have Adopted Curative and Preventive Strategies. 134 6.5: Logit Estimates of the Likelihood of Adoption of Management Strategies.