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Irrigation Development in West Bengal

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 41

Irrigation Development in West Bengal

Dr. Sebak Kumar Jana*

Abstract
Irrigation is a key component of agricultural development of an economy.
Irrigation management presently is of crucial importance in the context of
declining water availability and the climate change. The paper attempts to
give an overview of irrigation development in West Bengal. The paper
highlights pattern and trend of irrigation development in the state in respect
of different types of irrigation, inter-district disparity in irrigation
development and irrigation expenditure in the state.

1. Introduction rural poor and marginal farmers.

Repeated draughts and erratic
It is well documented in the rainfall have severally affected the
literature that irrigation plays the livelihood of rural people. India's
vital role in improving the yield or irrigation sector is likely to be more
productivity in the agricultural affected in the coming years
sector and the impact of irrigation because of the predicted climate
on reducing poverty is striking change which may lead to increased
(Vaidyanathan 2006). It is found evaporation with more irrigation
that in most states households with demand. Water scarcity will
access to irrigation have only about increasingly contribute to food
half the poverty incidence com- price volatility. Many countries are
pared to the households without facing worsening water scarcities.
irrigated land (IWMI 2011). The In all the regions poor will be dis-
effect of irrigation facility even proportionately vulnerable because
among the tribal households is of their dependence on agriculture
worth mentioning (Roy 2006). The and their low capacity to adapt
degree of instability in irrigated (World Development Report, 2008).
agriculture is also much lower than In this backdrop we have taken
unirrigated agriculture. But the irrigation development in West
rained areas in the country still Bengal for our study. In West
accounts for 60% of the cultivated Bengal 78% of all the farmers are
area and are home to majority of
*Reader in Economics, Department of Economics with Rural Development, Vidyasgar University,
Midnapore, West Bengal, India, PIN 721102

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 42

small farmers with less than 2 Ha. of water consumed in developing

of land for whom irrigation plays a countries, mainly for irrigation.
very important role. While the canal Water is needed in agriculture
irrigation has declined from 8.86 mainly to meet the demands of
lakh hectares to 5.6 lakh hectares evaporation (E), transpiration (T)
in the last fifty years, ground water and metabolic needs of the plants,
development is not satisfactory. altogether known as consumptive
The importance of irrigation is use (CU) for plants. The total water
rising in the state to sustain agri- requirement in West Bengal is
cultural growth. The major objec- projected to increase from 10.85
tive of the study is to get an overview mham in 2000 to 17.95 mham in
of the irrigation development 2025 with rise in share of agricul-
pattern in the state of West Bengal. ture from 49.6% in to 62.4% during
the same period ( WBPCB,2009).
2. Irrigation Demand in West
Bengal: The table-2 shows the water
requirement and deficit in West
Water is required for different Bengal (Mham). From table 2, we
sectors like agriculture, industry, see that water deficit also will be
energy etc. Water requirement for more in the year 2025 than the year
agriculture is high compared to 2000.
other sectors. Agriculture uses 85%

Table-1: Sector-wise Percentage of Projected Water Requirement

in West Bengal in 2025
Sectors 2000 2011 2025
Agriculture 49.6 59.3 62.4
Domestic 2.4 2.2 2.2
Industry ( including thermal) 5.3 2.9 3.4
Inland Navigation 33.5 27.9 20.6
Forestry 0.1 0.1 5.7
Ecology, Environment and Others 9.2 7.7 5.7
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: WBPCB (2009)
Table 2: Water Requirement and Deficit in West Bengal (Mham)
Sl. Year Water Requirement Deficit % deficit
1 2000 10.85 4.08 37.60
2 2011 13.02 6.25 48.00
3 2025 16.60 9.83 59.22
Source: WBPCB (2009)

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3. Irrigation Development in implementation and funding

West Bengal management. The three main
institutions involved in irrigation
Source-wise irrigation in India development are Ministry of Water
may be divided into 4 categories (i) Resources, the Planning
Canal Irrigation: Surface water Commission and the Ministry of
stored in reservoirs or rivers and Agriculture. To manage the ground
streams are distributed for irriga- water resource in the state, West
tion through the canal irrigation Bengal Groundwater Resources
network. (ii) River lift Irrigation (Management Control and
(RLI): Water lifted directly from Regulation) Act 2005 came in to
rivers and streams from suitable effect on 31st August 2005.
points. (iii) Irrigation well: It con-
sists of dug wells, shallow tube Major and Medium Irrigation
wells and deep tube wells.
(iv)Tank/Reservoir: An artificially The decades of 1950 and 1960
impounded body of water con- witnessed a large scale dam-
structed for the purpose of storage building within the geographical
of water. These different systems of territory of West Bengal. The mas-
irrigation are found in different sive capital-intensive engineering
geographical contexts. Irrigation in interventions were made for meet-
India is also classified into three ing increasing needs of population
categories based on the command and economy. These projects have
area: (i) major irrigation: culturable not fared well in delivering due
command area (CCA) is of 10,000 benefits and have instead been
ha or more, (ii) medium irrigation subject to serious and prolonged
projects: culturable command area controversy over grim social,
between 2,000 and 10, 000 ha and economic and environmental
(iii) Minor irrigation projects: below repercussions. The four major river
2,000 ha. Minor irrigation has valley irrigation projects in West
further classified into surface water Bengal are: (i) Mayurakshi
minor irrigation and ground water Reservoir Project: The Project was
minor irrigation schemes. Tube well taken up for execution in 1951 and
irrigation and tank irrigation has been completed 1985. The
generally falls in the minor irriga- irrigation potential created through
tion category. As water is the completion of this project comes to
responsibility of the state in the 2.5 lakh hectares in the districts of
Indian constitution, states are Birbhum, Murshidabad and
primarily responsible for planning, Burdwan., (ii) Damodar Valley

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 44

Corporation: An irrigation poten- wells are powered by electricity and

tial of 4.83 lakh hectares out of its the rest by diesel. The reason for the
ultimate irrigation potential of 5.1 preference for diesel is the govern-
lakh hectares has been created ment of West Bengal's electricity
through the project in the districts policy. In India as a whole there are
of Burdwan, Bankura, Hooghly and concerns about overexploitation of
Howrah.(iii) Kangsabati Reservoir groundwater and this appears to be
Project: It was started in the year driving water policies. In West
1956-57 in Mukutmanipur. Till Bengal, the high rainfall and the
date an irrigation potential of 3.48 alluvial aquifer make it less likely
lakh hectares has been created in that overexploitation will occur.
the districts of Bankura, Midnapore However, the government policies of
and Hooghly through this Project. groundwater certification and rural
(iv) Teesta Barrage Project: It is one electrification make it difficult for
of the largest irrigation projects not farmers to get connected to the grid,
only in West Bengal but also in the leading to economic scarcity of
entire eastern region. It will create groundwater (Mukherji 2007a,b,
9.22 lakh ha. of irrigation potential AGWATRER 2010).
in six northern districts of West
Bengal namely Coochbehar, Minor irrigation facilities in West
Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Uttar Bengal are created mainly by Water
Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Investigation & Development
Malda. Department (WIDD). Water
Investigation and Development
Minor Irrigation Department (WIDD) under
Government of West Bengal came
Since 1970 the dependence on into being in the present form and
ground water started to increase style from the year 1995. Presently,
with the introduction of high- this department is the controlling
yielding but water-intensive seeds authority in respect of two major
that replaced the traditional ones. directorates namely Water
According to Minor Irrigation Resources Development
Census there were 0.60 millions of Directorate (WRDD) and State
shallow and more than 5,000 deep Water Investigation Directorate
tube wells in the State in 2001. The (SWID); two State-owned
rapid adoption of shallow tube wells Corporations namely West Bengal
paved the way for agricultural State Minor Irrigation Corporation
growth in the 1980s and 1990s. Ltd. and four CAD Authorities (
Around 10% of these shallow tube Govt. of West Bengal, Economic

SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

 45

Review). The primary purpose of permeability of soil, depth of

command area development groundwater, climate, social and
authorities was to involve farmers' economic factors etc. Percentage
organizations in the irrigation share of irrigation of West Bengal in
management. WRDD is mainly India has increased from 4.6% in
engaged in developing existing 1998-99 to 9.4% in 2002-03 which
potential of water resources avail- shows relative improvement in
able in the state for irrigation irrigated area in the state. Uttar
purposes and construction and Pradesh has the highest share of
maintenance of various minor irrigated land followed by Punjab.
irrigation structures for utilization Per capita net irrigated area is
of ground water as well as surface 35.77 hectares per 1000 population
water. in West Bengal which is less than
the country average of 51.06 hect-
Irrigation Development in West ares. The gross irrigated area (GIA)
Bengal Compared to Other States as a percentage of gross cropped
Factors affecting irrigation area (GCA) is 54% and West
development are: topography and Bengal's position is 7th out of 34
slope of soil, structure, depth and states in India (CWC). As the last
column of table 3 shows most of the
Table 3: State wise Coverage of Irrigation and Share of Wells in Irrigation (million ha) ( 2001-02)
GIA as Wells as
States GCA GIA % GCA a % NIA
Andhra Pradesh 12.81 6.07 47.38 46.6
Bihar 7.58 4.43 58.44 65.1
Jharkhand 2.64 0.26 9.85 45.7
Gujrat 12.2 4.82 39.51 80.8
Haryana 6.39 5.46 85.45 55.8
Karnataka 12.44 3.6 28.94 45.0
Kerala 2.92 0.49 16.78 32.1
Madhya Pradesh 20.11 6.54 32.52 65.9
Chhattishgarh 5.73 1.49 26.00 20.1
Maharastra 22.57 4.45 19.72 64.6
Orissa 8.68 2.68 30.88 41.9
Punjab 7.98 7.76 97.24 72.4
Rajasthan 21.53 7.96 36.97 70.5
Tamil Nadu 5.84 3.31 56.68 54.2
U.P. 25.8 19.12 74.11 77.3
Uttarakhand 1.24 0.57 45.97 62.4
W.B. 9.64 5.43 56.33 55.1
India 193.72 85.78 44.28 59.0
Source: GOI, Ministry of Agriculture, Adopted from Deshpande ( 2011)

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states depend heavily on well tion of villages, high diesel prices in

irrigation with contribution of wells West Bengal compared to other
in net irrigated area (NIA) being states in India (Mukherji 2007b).
55% for West Bengal.
District wise Irrigation
The development of ground Development in West Bengal
water in West Bengal along with
other states is presented in Table 4. The disparity in irrigation devel-
It is seen from the Table 4 that the opment in West Bengal across
ground water development in West districts is presented in table 5. We
Bengal is 39.4% in comparison to have presented Net Cropped Area
all India average of 53.2%, in spite (NCA), Gross Cropped Area (GCA),
of the fact that the state is water GIA (Goss Irrigated Area), GIA as a
abundant. It has been pointed out percentage of GCA and cropping
that this is due to poor electrifica- intensity (CI) in various districts in
Table 4: Ground Water Development in West Bengal ( 2001-02)
Level of Per cent of
Total irrigation Ground water
Groundwater villages
potential potential
Development having tube
('000ha) ( 000 ha)
(%) well irrigation
Andhra Pradesh 11260 3960 42.12 43.8
Bihar 13347 4947 34.25 68.6
Gujrat 6103 2756 69.84 50.6
Haryana 4512 1462 105.45 81.4
Jammu & Kashmir 1358 708 4.12 4.4
Karnatak 5974 2574 63.72 59.3
Kerala 2679 879 29.21 7.0
Madhya Pradesh 17932 9732 45.51 40.6
Maharashtra 8952 3652 45.62 9.5
Orissa 8803 4203 14.33 31.3
Punjab 5967 2917 141.51 92.2
Rajasthan 5128 1778 111.75 54.3
Tamil Nadu 5532 2832 80.79 13.9
Tripura 281 81 4.06 38.5
Uttar Pradesh 30499 16799 64.63 82.2
West Bengal 6918 3318 39.47 43.9
India 139893 64050 53.22 63.1
Source: IDFC (2011)

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Table 5. District-wise Irrigation Development in West Bengal (2005-06)

NCA GCA GIA GIA/GCA CI

Bankura 335.58 493.8 273.55 55.4 147.1
Birbhum 319.96 514.4 291.82 56.7 160.8
Burdwan 454.94 825.02 317.99 38.5 181.3
Coochbehar 246.94 512.37 106.50 20.8 207.5
Dakshin Dinajpur 187.95 299.86 28.25 9.4 159.5
Darjeeling 141.77 239.77 8.94 3.7 169.1
Hooghly 218.82 528.8 335.11 63.4 241.7
Howrah 81.65 170.99 51.57 30.2 209.4
Jalpaiguri 336.64 561.8 93.58 16.7 166.9
Malda 221.54 439.8 125.38 28.5 198.5
Murshidabad 401.37 937.77 204.66 21.8 233.6
Nadia 291.99 730.46 213.01 29.2 250.2
North 24Pgs 260.54 495.91 155.70 31.4 190.3
Paschim Medinipur 551.72 931.8 304.02 32.6 168.9
Purba Medinipur 294.05 515.3 209.06 40.6 175.2
Purulia 308.64 329.6 72.13 21.9 106.8
South 24Pgs 370.37 507.6 109.54 21.6 137.1
Uttar Dinajpur 270.23 497.34 147.69 29.7 184.0
West Bengal 5294.7 9532.39 3048.49 32.0 180.0
Source: Own Calculation based on Government of W.B., District Statistical Handbooks

West Bengal in 2005-06. Cropping Government canal = 10.65 lakh

intensity is highest in the district of hectares, Tube well (TW) = 11.53
Nadia and is lowest in the district of lakh hectares and tanks = 2.45
South 24 Pgs. GIA as a percentage lakh hectares. The shares for
of GCA is highest in the district of different sources of irrigation for
Hooghly and lowest in the district of West Bengal are as follows:
Darjeeling. It should be pointed out Government canal 35%, Tank 8%,
that GIA as percentage of GCA for Tube Well 37.8%, River Lifting
the state differs in Table 5 and Irrigation (RLI) 5.7% and others
Table 3 as the source of data differs. 13.5%. Canal irrigation forms an
integral parts of the river valley
Irrigated area by different projects mentioned earlier.
sources in West Bengal is pre- Burdwan, Birbhum and Bankura
sented in table 6. Out of 30.48 lakh are the most benefited districts
hectares of irrigated land in West from canal irrigation. The spatial
Bengal in 2005-06, source-wise pattern reveals high dependence on
irrigated land are as follows:

SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

 48

tube well irrigation in the districts well irrigation and canal irrigation
like Nadia, 24- Parganas, Hooghly, in West Bengal.
Coochbehar. Tank irrigation plays
an important role in the districts 4. Creation and Utilization of
like Bankura and Purulia in the Irrigation Potential in West
dry western plateau tracts. Other Bengal
irrigation methods include river lift
Utilisation of irrigation potential
irrigation (RLI) which is the charac-
is an important parameter for the
teristic feature of the north central
efficiency of irrigation. It is seen
and eastern districts of the state
from the table-7 that irrigation
(Chatterjee 1995). In the last two
potential has increased from 44.24
columns we have presented dis-
lakh hectares in 1996-97 to 56.41
trict-wise percentage area of tube-
lakh hectares in 2009-10 and the
Table 6: Area Irrigated by Different Sources in West Bengal (2005-06)

Area Irrigated by ( '000 ha) Percentage of

Govt.Canal Tank TW Others Total TW Canal
Bankura 176.3 33.1 50.1 14.1 273.6 18.3 64.4
Birbhum 159.9 25.3 49.4 57.3 291.8 16.9 54.8
Burdwan 283.7 0.0 22.4 11.9 318.0 7.1 89.2
Coochbehar 1.7 5.9 72.5 26.4 106.5 68.1 1.6
Dakshin Dinajpur 0.0 10.4 12.1 5.8 28.3 42.7 0.0
Darjeeling 2.4 0.0 2.0 4.5 8.9 22.5 27.2
Hooghly 99.8 37.5 155.0 42.9 335.1 46.2 29.8
Howrah 35.5 9.0 4.8 2.3 51.6 9.3 68.8
Jalpaiguri 58.4 2.1 6.7 26.4 93.6 7.1 62.4
Malda 0.0 1.3 90.1 34.0 125.4 71.8 0.0
Murshidabad 32.9 7.8 11.4 152.6 204.7 5.6 16.1
Nadia 0.0 0.0 192.2 20.8 213.0 90.2 0.0
North 24Pgs 7.5 15.1 117.4 15.6 155.7 75.4 4.8
Paschim Medinipur 66.1 24.7 145.2 68.0 304.0 47.8 21.7
Purba Medinipur 63.6 26.3 75.8 43.5 209.1 36.2 30.4
Purulia 30.3 28.3 0.0 13.5 72.1 0.0 42.0
South 24Pgs 44.9 12.3 14.0 38.3 109.5 12.8 41.0
Uttar Dinajpur 2.6 6.0 132.2 6.9 147.7 89.5 1.8
W.B. 1065.5 245.0 1153.2 584.7 3048.5 37.8 35.0
Source: Government of West Bengal, District Statistical Handbooks

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Table 7: Creation of Irrigation in West Bengal ( lakh ha.)

Potential created upto the Year Percentage of
Year Major & Major &
Minor Total Minor Total
Medium Medium
1996-97 13.36 30.89 44.25 30.2 69.8 100.0
1997-98 13.57 31.64 45.21 30.0 70.0 100.0
1999-00 14.30 33.64 47.94 29.8 70.2 100.0
2000-01 14.78 34.27 49.05 30.1 69.9 100.0
2001-02 15.33 35.64 50.97 30.1 69.9 100.0
2002-03 15.49 36.29 51.78 29.9 70.1 100.0
2003-04 15.52 36.99 52.51 29.6 70.4 100.0
2004-05 15.55 37.64 53.19 29.2 70.8 100.0
2005-06 15.61 38.14 53.75 29.0 71.0 100.0
2006-07 15.66 38.64 54.30 28.8 71.2 100.0
2007-08 15.71 39.30 55.01 28.6 71.4 100.0
2008-09 15.76 39.98 55.74 28.3 71.7 100.0
2009-10 15.82 40.59 56.41 28.0 72.0 100.0
Source: WBPCB (2009)

share of minor irrigation has Introduction of submersible

increased over the years. In 2009- motor driven pump though came as
10 the share of major and medium a blessing to the cultivators, it
irrigation potential was 28 % and caused further lowering of ground-
that of minor irrigation was 72% in water level. The efficiency of the well
total irrigation potential created. irrigation is found to be higher
compared to other irrigation forms.
Utilisation of irrigation potential Ground water offers control and
is an important factor for agricul- reliability of water in irrigation
tural development. Creation and which proves very important,
utilization of irrigation in West though ground water irrigation is
Bengal have presented in the table- less equitable compared to surface
8. The table shows irrigation poten- irrigation (IDFC 2011). The problem
tial created and utilized in different with groundwater irrigation in West
districts of West Bengal for different Bengal is over exploitation of
seasons. In most of the districts groundwater in some districts.
season-wise actual area irrigated Depth to water level data analyzed
out of irrigation potential is very by the State Water Investigation
low.

SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

 50

Table 8: Season-wise Irrigation Potential created and Utilised in Different Districts (2001)

Season-wise Irrigational Season-wise Actual

Potential Created (ha) Area Irrigated (%)
Sl.No. District
Rabi and Total Rabi and Total
Kharif Kharif
others Others
1 Bankura 11414.48 14172 25586.680 49.2 36.3 42.0
2 Bardhaman 16155.49 15153 31308.240 47.3 72.7 59.6
3 Birbhum 21684.83 25302 46986.920 22.8 49.9 37.4
4 Dakshin Dinajpur 14167.35 20308 34475.780 24.7 55.5 42.9
5 Darjeeling 1159.56 4180 5339.410 35.6 82.2 72.1
6 Howrah 29612.11 44770 74382.270 38.1 67.1 55.6
7 Hooghli 18978.5 25011 43989.420 62.8 79.9 72.5
8 Jalpaiguri 6258.42 27387 33645.580 40.6 85.9 77.5
9 Coochbehar 6669.01 8849 15518.180 11.4 39.0 27.1
10 Maldah 7683.56 18204 25887.450 44.0 61.4 56.2
11 Medinipur 26098.36 52605 78703.170 28.1 79.9 62.7
12 Murshidabad 17132.44 21250 38382.630 26.7 46.5 37.7
13 Nadia 18145.24 18207 36352.670 24.9 36.6 30.8
14 North 24-Paraganas 4829.55 7013 11843.010 39.7 60.5 52.1
15 Purulia 6066.03 5790 11855.720 28.4 29.8 29.0
16 South 24-Paraganas 30625.28 40717 71342.190 7.1 77.9 47.5
17 Uttar Dinajpur 5444.91 9117 14562.100 18.4 36.7 29.9
Total 242125.1 358036 600161.420 31.1 64.6 51.1
Source: Own calculation based on GoWB, 2003

Directorate, Govt. of W. Bengal, latest assessment, 37 falls under

indicated significant average 'semi-critical' category, 1 block falls
annual fall in pre monsoon depth to under critical category and the
water level during the period 1995 remaining blocks fall under 'safe'
to 2004 to the tune of 16 to 70 category in West Bengal (GoWB ,
centimeters in some blocks of Economic Review, 2011). Crunch
Murshidabad, Burdwan, Purba is already felt in drinking water
Medinipur and Hooghly districts. In sector in rural west Bengal during
some parts of Hooghly, Burdwan Boro cultivation season.
and Murshidabad districts, signifi- Unpredictable monsoons, destruc-
cant fall was noticed in both pre tion of green coverage, siltation of
and post monsoon period. As per rivers, uncontrolled urbanization

SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

 51

have compounded this problem. 5. Irrigation Expenditure in West

Area under arsenic and fluoride are Bengal
increasing day by day (Rudra
2010). In this backdrop it is impor- Analysts have argued that one of
tant to search for sustainable the causes of food price hike after
irrigation. There should be more 2007 is underinvestment in irriga-
emphasis on surface irrigation like tion. The expenditure on Irrigation
canal irrigation and tank irrigation. and Waterways Department for the
The key problem with the surface year 2010-11 was about `1,140
irrigation is poor maintenance and crore in West Bengal (Economic
system management ( Shah 2011). Review, 2010-11). In table-9, we

Table 9: Expenditure on Irrigation in West Bengal (` lakh)

% of
Total % of
Major and Minor Flood irrigation
Years CAD Irrigation irrigation
Medium Irrigation Control Exp to
Expenditure Exp to SDP
Rev Exp
1985-86 2894 3653 71 1835 8452 0.485 3.74
1986-87 3534 3666 86 2167 9453 0.499 3.50
1987-88 3622 4542 89 2274 10527 0.457 3.48
1988-89 4127 5128 102 2561 11918 0.483 3.43
1989-90 4659 5861 123 2940 13584 0.489 3.42
1990-91 5698 7857 134 2919 16608 0.527 3.24
1991-92 5815 7266 108 2663 15851 0.435 2.98
1992-93 6096 8142 117 2714 17069 0.440 3.01
1993-94 7024 10218 138 3732 21112 0.436 3.06
1994-95 7653 9940 138 3903 21634 0.402 2.84
1995-96 8562 11223 166 4475 24427 0.364 2.83
1996-97 9979 13016 196 4596 27788 0.373 2.68
1997-98 11133 15970 215 4980 32299 0.363 2.85
1998-99 14077 20748 341 5876 41043 0.387 2.88
1999-00 17189 25855 345 10231 53621 0.459 2.75
2000-01 19087 33195 384 19164 71830 0.557 3.25
2001-02 16139 28797 384 14178 59498 0.421 2.54
2002-03 15182 23238 382 6640 45442 0.300 1.96
2003-04 14218 24101 374 5682 44375 0.260 1.72
2004-05 16924 23912 375 6564 47774 0.252 1.70
2005-06 18476 26314 381 8598 53769 0.253 1.73
2006-07 24187 27306 391 9866 61751 0.250 1.81
Source: Govt. of West Bengal, Statistical Abstract, Various Issues

SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

 52

have presented the revenue expen- table, revenue expenditure on total

diture on irrigation in West Bengal irrigation has been reduced from
during 1985-86 to 2006-07. Total 0.48% of SDP in 1985-86 to 0.25%
expenditure on irrigation can be of SDP in 2005-06. Percentage of
decomposed into major and irrigation expenditure in total
medium irrigation, minor irriga- revenue expenditure has been
tion, Command area development reduced from 3.74% in 1985-86 to
(CAD), flood control. Total revenue 1.8% in 2005-06. This indicates
expenditure on irrigation has there is less emphasis on the
increased from `84.52 crores in maintainenance of irrigation.
1985-86 to `617.5 crores in 2006-
07. Major and medium irrigation 6. Conclusion
mainly comprises of canal irriga- Agricultural water management
tion. Minor irrigation comprises is of crucial importance in the
mainly well irrigation and tank context of declining water availabil-
irrigation. As well irrigation is ity. The official projection for West
mainly private in nature; minor Bengal increasing gap between
irrigation expenditure may contain demand of water for agriculture
a high share of tank irrigation and available water ( WBPCB 2009).
expenditure. The percentage share Creation of additional storage and
of minor irrigation expenditure is demand side management are dual
seen to have improved over the challenges of present water man-
years. It is to be mentioned that agement. On the demand side there
though the share of major irrigation should be more emphasis on
expenditure is still very high, the extension works on the part of
area under major and medium government involving NGOs and
irrigation is not improving. We farmers' organsiations to dissemi-
have calculated the irrigation nate best agricultural water man-
expenditure as a percentage of agement practices. Institutional
State Domestic Product (SDP) and arrangements are crucial along
as a percentage of Budgeted reve- with technology in irrigation man-
nue expenditure over the periods agement (Sengupta 1991).
1985-86 to 2006-07 (Table-9). It Participatory irrigation manage-
may be observed that total irriga- ment (PIM) and PPP models are
tion expenditure as a percentage of being suggested for irrigation
SDP and as a percentage of revenue management (IWMI 2011). There
expenditure has a declining ten- should be diversification in favour
dency. As has been revealed in the of crops with low water require-

SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

 53

ments. On the supply side ground (Jana 2011) have strong anti-
water potential should be exploited. poverty potential. The advantage
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural for West Bengal is that the state is
Employment Guarantee Act endowed with plenty of rainfall and
(MGNREGA) funds should be used receives run off from neighbouring
to build or rehabilitate storage and states. Much of the irrigation
irrigation infrastructure in the problem in the state can
rainfed areas of the state. The gap sustainably met through tradi-
between the available and utilizable tional practice of rainwater harvest-
surface water should be reduced. ing and switching to less water
One major challenge of water intensive crops instead of boro. It is
management is to reduce this important to make a balance
crucial gap. In the dry zone it has between economic parameters,
also been observed that irrigation climatic conditions and institu-
technologies like micro irrigation tional arrangements.
and innovative scheme like happa

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SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

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SEPTEMBER 2012 land bank journal

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