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Ind. in. ofAgri. Econ. Vol. 57, No. 1, Jan.-March 2002 Economic Feasibility of Renovation of Village Ponds for Irrigation in Kandi Area of Punjab Chawla, S.D. Khepar and Mukesh Siag* Introduction The Kandi (semi-hilly) area of Punjab lies in the foothills of lower Shivaliks. This belt is about 250 kilometres (km) in length having width varying from 3 to 11 km. People of the area are economically backward. Their main source of livelihood is agriculture which is difficult and uncertain on account of lack of irrigation facilities. Agriculture, therefore, remains dependent on 'Rain Gods'. Mean annual rainfall of the area is 900 millimetres (mm), of which 80 per cent is received from late June to mid-September. However, the rainfall is erratic and results in frequent failure of crops. The groundwater is also limited and very deep and thus its development cost is prohibitive. Thus the main constraint for development of agriculture in the area is lack of irrigation facilities. Efforts have been made during the recent past to construct water harvesting structures to store the run-off during monsoon to provide life saving irrigation to the rabi crop but these have been insufficient and inadequate. One of the possibilities to further increase the area under irrigation is the renovation of village ponds. for storage of rainfall run-off and waste water from villagers' dwelling units and use the same for providing irrigation to the adjoining cultivable land. Earlier, these ponds used to serve the rural community in more than one way since time immemorial. These ponds were mainly used as a source of drinking and bathing of animals. In some of the villages having water scarcity, these ponds were used even for drinking purposes by human beings. The ponds used to dry up before the monsoons. The silt deposited in the ponds used to be removed by the villagers for plastering their kutcha (poor quality) houses. Thus de-silting of the ponds was an annual phenomenon, which would indirectly cleanse the pond as well as increase its storage capacity. The village pond has thus stood the test of times in the past because it used to perform a number of physical and ecological functions such as regeneration, reuse and recycling. During the last few decades, there has been a significant change in the socio- economic conditions of villages. The government has provided public water supply in most of the villages and at many places, the residents have installed their own pumps (mostly motor-driven) due to which dependence of the villagers on pond water for * Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004. The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for providing funds to carry out this study under the National Professorship Project. 92 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS their day-to-day water needs has drastically reduced. Mostly pucca (good quality) houses have replaced the old kutcha houses and the ponds have more or less been abandoned for common use. The silt deposited in the pond is no more required now and goes on accumulating thereby decreasing its storage capacity resulting into frequent overflows during rainy season. This results into flooding of nearby streets and becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The following are some of the reasons for inhibiting the use of pond water by the villagers for irrigation. (a) Socio-economic reasons which include lack of motivation of the beneficiaries by the local bodies for use of pond water for irrigation, non-aesthetic state of the ponds, subsidised/free supply of water and electricity for tubewells, users' apprehensions about the quality and suitability of pond water for irrigation and initial investment for the suggested infrastructure. (b) Physical reasons being inadequate storage capacity of pond due to silting, neglect of de-silting and renovation of pond and non-existence of infra-structure for pumping and distribution of water. Thus the village ponds which once used to be very useful institutions have now rather become a source of nuisance. A recent study carried out at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Khepar et al., 1999) reveals that the quality of pond water is fit for irrigation as well as development of fisheries. In the Kandi area, since the availability of irrigation water is. the main constraint for agriculture production, an effort has been made in this paper to examine the economic feasibility of renovation of village ponds and to test certain hypotheses related to their use for irrigation. The renovation of these 'sick' ponds would solve the water shortage problem during the critical growth period of the crop and also the waste water disposal problem. Simultaneously, it would minimise the health and environmental risks which these otherwise abandoned ponds pose to the residents. Methodology The data such as physical features of the pond like its location, water spread, average depth, source of inflow, its present and past use and cropping pattern were obtained on the basis of survey conchicted in each of the 11 blocks of Ludhiana district by selecting two villages from each block. The list of blocks and number of villages contained therein are given in Table 1. Information on rainfall run-off coefficient, cost of pumpset, pump house and laying out of/ underground pipeline system for irrigation was collected from the Departmentd of Soil Conservation and Waste Land Development. Increase in wheat yield on account of supplemental irrigation during rabi season was taken from the work done in the Department of Soils of Punjab Agricultural University while suitability of water samples collected from the surveyed villages was examined in the ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF RENOVATION OF VILLAGE PONDS FOR IRRIGATION 93 TABLE I. BLOCKWISE NUMBER OF VILLAGES IN LUDHIANA DISTRICT Block Number of villages Block Number of villages (1) (2) (3) (4) Ludhiana 79 Sidhwanbet 92 Mangat 198 Samrala 66 Pakhowal 64 Machhiwara 139 " Dehlon 77 Doraha - 82 Jagraon 54 Khanna 69 Sudhar 53 Source: Government of Punjab (1998-99). laboratory and its fitness for irrigation was then decided as per the University's recommendations with regard to irrigation water. The effective pond capacity was determined on the basis of its physical features, run-off volume from the catchment area, dead storage, seepage and evapbration- losses, etc. Based on the effective storage, the command area to be irrigated during rabi season was estimated assuming one pre-sowing or post-sowing supplemental irrigation of 7.5 centimetres (cm) for wheat crop. The following hypotheses were formulated for the study. (i) Is the quality of pond water suitable for irrigating various crops under different soil conditions in the state? (ii) Will the renovation of these water bodies check the overflow of ponds during rainy season and thereby save the inhabitants from the ill-effects of dirty water? (iii) Is the renovation of village ponds technically and economically viable? These hypotheses were then tested with the help of collected and analysed data and suitable recommendations made thereafter. The economic analysis for the development of village ponds was carried out using standard techniques on the basis of annual benefit and annual cost. Results and Discussion As per the analysis of water samples collected from various ponds, the quality of water was found fit for irrigation. The quality of water will further improve with increase in inflow to the ponds after renovation/de-silting. As stated earlier, the average physical features (dimensions) of village pond in Kandi area were deter- mined on the basis of preliminary investigations and are as follows: (i) Top surface area (TSA)= 1.5 ha; (ii) Middle surface area (MSA)= 1.3 ha; (iii) Bottom surface area (BSA) = 1.0 ha; and (iv) Average depth = 2.0 m (after de-watering and de- silting). The average rainfall during the monsoons is 650 mm. It is estimated that 40 per cent of the rainfall is diverted as run-off to the village ponds. The cropping pattern mainly comprised wheat during the rabi and maize in kharif. The experiments carried out in the Kandi area (Prihar, 1990) on the use of limited water stored in water harvesting structures for irrigation of wheat have revealed an average increase of more than 7 quintals per hectare with application of one irrigation to wheat crop as 94 INDIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS pre-sowing or as early post-sowing supplemental irrigation (Table 2). Information pertaining to the investment on de-watering and de-silting, purchase of pumpset, installation of pipelines for distribution of water, etc., was collected from the State Department of Soil Conservation and Waste Land Development and is reported in the economic analyses. TABLE 2. EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTAL IRRIGATION ON WHEAT YIELD (kg per hectare) Grain yield Treatment Mean 1973- 1974- 1975- 1976- 1977- 1978- 1979- 1980- 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) Control 3,440 2,850 2,300 380 3,920 3,970 1,260 2,950 2,630 , (unirrigated) One irrigation 3,890 3,750 3,680 990 4,160 4,230 2,570 2,530 3,350 LSD (0.05) 190 390 310 N.S. N.S. 260 410 - Rainfall(mm) 141 153 227 48 192 323 101 340 Source: Prihar (1990). Economic Analyses Effective storage Based on average dimensions of the pond reported in the preceding section, the capacity of the pond is worked out as follows: TSA + 4 x MSA + BSA Capacity of the pond = x Average depth 6 1.5 + 4 x1.3 +1.0 x 2 = 2.60 cubicmetres (cu.m.) 6 Dead storage (at the rate of 20 per cent)= 2.6 x 0.2 = 0.52 cu.m.

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