The Telangana government’s hurried approach in improving irrigation potential in the State has exposed some of the lesser known yet important aspects that go into planning of dams that weren’t executed.
One such aspect is the calculation of the cost benefit ratio of projects, which looks more like an exercise in manipulation of statistics.
The Central Water Commission and foreign funding agencies like the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank underscore the need for projects being economically justifiable, and hence insist on the calculation of cost benefit ratio at the planning stage itself. As per their norms, the ratio should be at least 1:1.5 in terms of returns spread over a period of 10 years from the date of the facility going operational.
“Depending upon the contemplated capacity of the reservoir, the Agriculture Department gives us a plan for crop diversification in the project ayacut to enable farmers draw benefits from it to the maximum extent possible. The economics of agriculture in the given area before and after the advent of irrigation is taken into consideration to arrive at the ratio,” a senior engineering official disclosed as being one of the aspects of planning dams and canals.
Surprisingly, officials do not consult the targeted beneficiaries on their plan for the proposed crop diversification, many of whom continue cultivating traditional crops. This is one of the major reasons why the full potential of projects does not get realised even after spending hundreds of crores.
For example, in the Satnala project in Jainad mandal, the irrigation potential remains at 12,000 acres — 50 per cent of the contemplated ayacut of 24,000 acres. Though the Agriculture Department had given a plan for cultivation of paddy, jowar, and millets under the project, cotton has remained the chief crop as farmers remained uninformed about such cultivation and utilisation of water by going in for crop diversification.
“The yield of cotton is between eight and 10 quintals per acre, but this is due to the cultivation of hybrids rather than availability of water,” said Tudum Ramulu, a farmer of Mediguda village which falls under the project’s ayacut. Satnala was actually designed to provide irrigation in kharif but delivers only during rabi just to prolong cotton crop.
The under-construction Chanaka-Korta barrage across Penganga river, which has merited special attention of the State government, is likely to end up like other projects. Farmers under its ayacut are uninformed about crop diversification envisaging reduction in cotton area from 4,543 hectare by about 500 hectare and increase of soyabean area and introducing cultivation of vegetables on 1,670 hectare.
When told about the intricacies of planning irrigation projects, a farmer from Korta village in Jainad mandal expressed surprise. “Why are we being kept in the dark despite the promise to release water from the barrage in the coming kharif,” he asked.
