PARTICIPATORY IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT IN INDIA: ACHIEVEMENTS, THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES

摘要

Of India's total net irrigated area of 60.2 million ha, 15.3 million ha (25%) are covered by the government managed canal irrigation schemes. It is a fact that the proportion of canal irrigated area in India has been shrinking since last two decades.This may be attributed to a rapidly deteriorating irrigation infrastructure and declining quality of the irrigation services in the canal irrigation schemes, among others. Consequently, performance of these schemes becomes dismal due to inequitable waterdistribution, poor maintenance of infrastructure, low cost recovery and resulting poor crop productivity. Participatory irrigation management (PJM) approach was introduced in India in late 1980s with the aim of improving the performance of the public irrigation schemes. Under the prevailing PIM approach in India, water is supplied to the Water User Associations (WUAs), who take over the responsibility of operation, maintenance and management of the irrigation schemes within their operational area. Presently, more than fifty five thousand WUAs covering over 13 million ha of gross irrigated area have been formed in different States across India. In India, adoption of PIM has been slow compared to some other countries. In fact, the PIM is in the processof evolution and different models of PIM are being tried in the country based on the State's water resources, irrigation development, social and political setup. Experience gained during the last two decades has shown that the PIM approach provides a 'win-win 'situation both to farmers and the government. The major tangible benefits of PIM include effective and economic maintenance of irrigation infrastructure, improved distribution equity of irrigation water, increase in irrigated area, freedom of cropplanning, effective use of surface and groundwater, increased cost recovery, and higher income to farmers. The intangible benefits include articulation of farmers' concerns, inclusive development and formation of social capital at village level, among others. There are examples of both successes and failures of WUAs. There has been some suspicion in the minds of farmers and irrigation staff about the sustainability of the PIM approach. Experience has shown that, for successful and sustainable PIM, a high level political support, legal backing, competent local leadership, involvement of non-governmental agencies, economic benefits to farmers through collective action, and robust irrigation infrastructure are the major contributing factors. Nevertheless, there are many impediments needing attention to make the PIM sustainable in India. This paper provides a brief overview of PIM in India, discusses achievements, threats/challenges and opportunities for its up-scaling both in terms of management functions and area coverage.