Enhancement of System performance through Benchmarking: Case Study of Samrat Ashok Sagar Irrigation Project, MP, India

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1 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN Enhancement of System performance through Benchmarking: Case Study of Samrat Ashok Sagar Irrigation Project, MP, India Sanjay S. Phadnis 1, Mukul Kulsrestha 2 1 Executive Engineer, World Bank Funded Madhya Pradesh Water Sector Restructuring Project, Water Resources Department, Bhopal 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil engineering, MANIT, Bhopal ABSTRACT India is a monsoon dependent country for its water resources. Irrigation sector has been fundamental to India s economic development and poverty alleviation since 25% of India s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 65% of employment is based on agriculture. During the post independence period, the country has invested a huge amount of capital in the major and the medium irrigation projects. Among the states, three have already achieved 7% or more of the ultimate irrigation potential with Tamilnadu recording 1% achievement, followed by Punjab and Rajasthan at 84% and 74% respectively. Six States, i.e., Haryana, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, and West Bengal are in the range of 63% to 71%, whereas in U.P. and Maharashtra, the achievement would be 56% each. The States of Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, M.P. and Assam have achieved less than 5% of the ultimate potential. The ultimate potential under major & medium irrigation in the eastern States (except West Bengal), i.e. Bihar, U.P., M.P. and Orissa put together works out to about 5% of the total ultimate potential of the country (MoWR,GoI,26). In large public irrigation schemes in Asia, the main problems of irrigation service delivery faced by the farmers were usually erratic delivery and inequity between the heads and tail ends of the canals, resulting in low cropping intensities, in a poor proportion of the systems command area being irrigated, and poor yields. The study will review the performance of existing Samrat Ashok Sagar major irrigation and drainage project for selected benchmarking indicators on actual past data observed. Keywords: Benchmarking, Modernisation and Rehabilitation, Water Management 1. Introduction In India consumption of water on irrigation is about 83 percent of current level of water utilization. Currently urban population in the country is 27.8 percent of total population. Urban population at the global level in the year 2 was 47 percent of total population. It is estimated that in India, by the year 221, urban population may achieve level of 4 percent of total population of country. Rapid population growth, rapid rate of urbanization and ever rising standards of living of people in the country are bound to accelerate pace of industrialization and urbanization in the country. This will create a situation of competing demands for water from domestic, power and industry sectors. Under such a scenario getting more water for irrigation, in preference to high value added 155

2 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN sectors of water use like industry and power may not be an easy proposition (CWC, 26). Planning Commission has projected a nominal growth rate of 13.5 per cent for GDP for the terminal year. To ensure consistency with the GDP growth rate for the terminal year, the states in the first, second and third categories have been assigned terminal year nominal GSDP growth rates of 11.5 per cent, 12.5 per cent and 14.5 per cent respectively. Subsidies to the irrigation sector are mostly implicit in nature, arising from gross under recovery of user charges. Cumulative public investment in the irrigation sector amounted to over Rs. 2,5, crore at the end of the Tenth Five Plan (26 7). Today water scarcity is a Global issue and deteriorating environmental and social conditions due to exploitation of water resources in an unplanned manner are making situation more serious (Ashry,21). Water is a critical input for agricultural production (MPWALMI,1989). Irrigation is critical to food security and economic growth in contemporary India (Gulati et al., 25). The performance of many irrigation systems is significantly below their potential due to a number of shortcomings, including poor design, construction, operation and maintenance (Hasan et al, 23). Similarly as per National and State water Policies, priority is given to drinking water supply. In most part of the country, water planned for irrigation purposes has been now prioritised for drinking water supply and same irrigation distribution system is used for water transfer to drinking water supply which is causing unrest and conflict among Water Users of command and Project Authority. Such ad hoc mechanism is responsible for disturbances of irrigation schedule and also responsible for inequitable distribution of water in head, middle and tail reaches which is ultimately responsible for disparity in the economic status of head, middle and tail water users of command (WALMI,1989). In most of the irrigation projects, a wide gap in irrigation potential created and potential utilised has been established. There can be many reasons for this like climate changes, change in cropping pattern and no apex level control on water allocation for different category of users, environmental degradation of distribution system, absence of warabandi for distribution system of water to each field in fixed given time within a chak boundary (hydraulic Boundry) and also absence of osrabandi for water distribution on rotation basis, unsystematic use of water resource for irrigation and other uses, lack of sense ownership among users, no information of best irrigation practices and lack of coordination within various stakeholders with absence of conflict resolution mechanism etc that are matters of concern and need to be addressed immediately (Central Water Commission, 1999) Similarly as per National and State water Policies 22, priority is given to drinking water supply. In most part of the country, water planned for irrigation purposes has been now prioritised for drinking water supply and same irrigation distribution system is used for water transfer to drinking water supply which is causing unrest and conflict among Water Users of command and Project Authority. Such ad hoc mechanism is responsible for disturbances of irrigation schedule and also responsible for inequitable distribution of water in head, middle and tail reaches which is ultimately responsible for disparity in the 156

3 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN economic status of head, middle and tail water users of command (WALMI,1989). In large public irrigation schemes in Asia, the main problems of irrigation service delivery faced by the farmers were usually erratic delivery and inequity between the heads and tail ends of the canals, resulting in low cropping intensities, in a poor proportion of the systems command area being irrigated, and poor yields. Samrat Ashok Sagar ( Halali ) Project is a multi purpose Major Water Resources Project. Project and has been planned for Irrigation, Water supply to Vidisha Township, Flood Control and power generation for lifting of water to high level in the Barro Canal. The project stands on River Halali, a tributary of Betwa River for a catchments area of 699 sq.kms. The project is designed for culturable command area of hectares with an annual irrigation of 37,637 hectares in Vidisha and Raisen Districts of the state of Madhya Pradesh (MP), India. The study will review the performance of existing Samrat Ashok Sagar major irrigation and drainage project for selected benchmarking indicators on actual past data observed. The essence of the benchmarking process is to provide organizations with the ability to compare their performance in relation to similar organizations or similar processes (ITPRID Report, 2). It will help project authority to take adequate measures for identified problems to bridge the gap in order to ensure the optimum utilization of water in the Project (INCID, 26). 1.1 System Performance The water demand of different users like irrigators and demand for water supply to Vidisha Township has been met through distribution system and therefore physical condition of system, irrigation methods used by farmers etc. were examined closely. Table 1. Designed irrigation Vs Actual irrigation (ha) in SAS Project ( Source: Primary Data Collected from Samrat Ashok Sagar Project Division, Vidisha) Designed irrigation (ha) Actual irrigation (ha) Kharif* Rabi** Total Kharif Rabi Total Upstream Grand Total in Irrigation in Rabi in irrigation Average

4 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN *Kharif Crop is 15 th June to 15 th September **Rabi Crop means 15 th November to 31 st March Thus, for the above period, the average project performance has only 24112/37637=.641 i.e. 64% of the designed irrigation capacity. Due to adequate rainfall in the area, the water requirement for kharif crop could not develop in the project area. Apart from this it is a wheat prone area which is a Rabi crop and approximately 5% of area grow wheat, with the result actual irrigation in the area under rabi is more than planned under project is achieved when reservoir is full. Name of Canal Figure 1.:Samrat Ashok Sagar (Halali) Project Table 1: Water delivery Capacity Designed Peak discharge (Cumecs) Discharge (Cumecs) Kharif Rabi Actual Discharge in cumecs Main Canal Nil LBC Nil SBC 8.63 Nil D1/LBC 2.94 Nil D2/LBC 2.83 Nil D3/LBC 4.24 Nil D4/LBC 4.35 Nil % of Design Discharge Water delivery index 158

5 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN RBC 5.24 Nil D1/RBC.85 Nil D2/RBC 1.4 Nil D3/RBC 1.37 Nil Country India Scheme Name Table 3 Estimated System Performance of Canal System System Performance Indicator Total Field Annual Annual Annual applicatio relative irrigation Water n irrigatio water Delivery efficiency n supply supply per (MCM) in % Index unit in % command area (cum/ha) Annaual irrigation water supply per unit irrigated area(cum/ha) Not considered due to winter rains Samrat Ashok Sagar Irrigatio n and Drainage Project Mean SD Min Max In Samrat Ashok Sagar Project, carrying capacity of canal is much less than required as given in table below. Unless restructuring of canal is done, it is not possible to deliver water in equity, reliability and with timeliness. Therefore, it is possible that within the project, there may be pockets of inequation and inefficiencies, which can be confirmed only through reliable indicators or through measurement of efficiencies within the system. 159

6 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN Wate delivered in cum per year Total annual volume of irrigation water delivery (cum per year) Total annual volume of crop irrigation demand(cum/year) Figure 2: Annual Water delivered against crop water requirement Poor performance leads to many unfavorable effects such as low yields per unit of area and/or per unit of water. Improving the irrigation system from headwork to outlet into the farmer's field has to be paid adequate attention. The evaluation of performance of system as a whole or of any of its component will help in enhancing the present system performance and plan a proper strategy for future improvement in management and operation. From the figure 2 it is clear that the total annual volume of water delivery is much higher than total annual volume of crop irrigation demand. It is also seen that in the year 24 5 to 26 7 when water availability was in surplus the gap between these two was wider than year 27 8 when water availability was less. The reason of excess use of water may be categorized as flooding method use for water application in the study area, higher seepage losses and inefficient distribution system etc. Similarly, Field application efficiency which is a ratio of total volume of water used by crops to meet evapotranspiration demands annually to total annual volume of water made available to the crops at the field is an important indicator for comparing the system performance. The primary objective of irrigation is to provide plants with sufficient water to obtain optimum yields and a high quality harvested product. The required timing and amount of applied water is determined by the prevailing climatic conditions, the crop and its stage of growth, soil properties (such as water holding capacity), and the extent of root development. Water within the crop root zone is the source of water for crop evapotranspiration. Thus, it is important to consider the field water balance to determine the irrigation water requirements. But in most of the irrigation projects in India these basic parameters are not analysed at regular interval either by government agency or by individual farmer. 16

7 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN Field Application Efficiency in % Figure 3: Field application efficiency in % Figure 3 shows that field efficiency is low in all the years. Results of field efficiency on year 22 3 is ignored as this year winter rains and some other factors shows abnormal results and seems to be unrealistic. It is a matter of serious concern for water managers who are given role of water management. This include role of both departmental engineers and Water Users Association officials who are in key role for water management in present time. Irrigation water, once applied, becomes part of the hydrologic system and is difficult to trace. Annual relative irrigation supply index in % age Figure 4: Annual relative irrigation supply index in % age Annual relative irrigation supply index is a ratio of total annual volume of water provided for irrigation into the system / sub system to the total annual volume of irrigation water required by the crop less effective rainfall. Figure 16 shows support the statement that 161

8 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN when water is in surplus it is misused. Annaual relative irrigation supply index in year 24 5 to 26 7 is high and year 27 8 is low. The water stored in reservoir gets consumed in Rabi watering itself despite no supply for kharif crop in the command. It also gives clear indication that over utilisation of water for Rabi Irrigation watering needs adequate intervention for water management. Annual water delivery index was the lowest in 22 3 with.89 but this year is not taken in account due unreliable data but the highest value is year 24 5 with Annual irrigation water supply per unit command area Annaual irrigation water supply per unit irrigated area(cum/ha) 8 Cum per ha Figure 5: Annual Irrigation Water Supply per unit Command Area and Irrigated Area Figure 5 shows Annual Irrigation Water Supply per unit Command Area and Annual Irrigation Water Supply per unit Irrigated Area. Total annual water delivery per command area was the lowest in 22 3 with 2822 m³/ha and the highest in 24 5 with 612 m³/ha. Annual irrigation water supply per unit irrigated area is total quantity of water supplied for irrigation in all the seasons of a year divided by the irrigated area in that year. Annual irrigation water supply per unit irrigated area varies with water availability, cropping pattern, climate, soil type, system conditions, system management etc. As a measure of efficiency of irrigation system, a target of 7692 m3/ha in case of major projects was set in Maharashtra State. Annual irrigation water supply per unit irrigated area is total quantity of water supplied for irrigation in all the seasons of a year divided by the irrigated area in that year. Annual 162

9 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN irrigation water supply per unit irrigated area varies with water availability, cropping pattern, climate, soil type, system conditions, system management etc. Figure 5 shows Annual Irrigation Water Supply per unit Irrigated Area. Total annual water delivery per irrigated area was the lowest in 22 3 with 3311 m³/ha and the highest in 24 5 with 678 m³/ha. 3. Conclusion and recommendations In present study, water delivery performances for various indicators were determined for Samrat Ashok Sagar Major Irrigation Project for the years 2 1 to Irrigation ratios ranged satisfactory for system level evaluation as for as rabi irrigation but it is also inclusive of area irrigated by pumps in command. It is also observed that entire irrigation area cannot be irrigated due to deficiency of irrigation facilities, poor practices of irrigation by flooding method and socio economic factors in the irrigation scheme. The demand of water supply for drinking purpose put additional stress on existing distribution network, especially main canal and Right Bank Canal and its Distributory No. 2 and create conflict situation in rabi season. In February and March the water requirement for Vidisha Township due to inadequate inflow condition in Betwa River is on peak and it is the high time for peak maturity of crop. Therefore such conflict situation is unavoidable and only solution to resolve this issue is to lay independent pipeline for Vidisha Township supply. Hence rehabilitation of system is required as an intervention of study. 4. References 1. Central Water Commission, 1999, Performance Evaluation Study Shahzad Dam Project (Uttar Pradesh), Performance Overview and Management Improvement Organisation, New Delhi pp Central Water Commission, 26, Workshopp on Benchmarking and Drainage System at WALMI, Bhoppal pp El Ashry, M. T. (21) The Bitter Reality of the Global Water Crisis Earth Times, News Service 29 November Gulati Ashok, Meinzen dick Ruth and Raju K.V., 25, Institutional Reforms in Indian Irrigation, IFPPRI, Food PPolicy Statement, Number 42, pp Hasan D. And Hakan B.Y. 23. Assessment Of Irrigation Schemes With Compparative Indicators In The Southeastern Anatolia PProject, Journal For Agriculture, Turkey 27, pp India Indian National Council of Irrigation & Drainage (INCID), 26, Guidelines for benchmarking of Irrigation system, India, pp

10 Volume 1, No 2, 21 Copyright 21 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services Research article ISSN International PProgramme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPPTRID),2, Benchmarking irrigation and drainage service pprovision pp MHWR, 25 Annual Repport on Benchmarking of irrigation pprojects in Maharashtra, Water Resources Deppartment, Government of Maharashtra, pp MPPFPPIM Act, 1999, Madhya PPradesh Sinchai PPrabandhan mein Krishakon ki Bhagidhari Adhiniyam 1999 {MPP Farmer PParticippation in Irrigation Management (MPPFPPIM) Act, 1999} pp WALMI,1989, Guidelines for System Opperation & Water Releases, Madhya PPradesh Water and Land Management Institute, Bhoppal pp WALMI 26. PPost PProject PPerformance Evaluation Studies Of Samrat Ashok Sagar PProject, Madhya PPradesh, PPublisher M.PP. Water & Land Management Institute, Bhoppal, pp