SYSTEM ANALYSIS FOR BAGHALATI IRRIGATION PROJECT IN ORISSA

Abstract

The Baghalati Irrigation Project is one of the medium irrigation projects proposed on river Bahuda, at Baghalati site, for the integrated development of Bahuda Basin. The total catchment of the project at damsite is 119.50 Sq .Km and the Pondage area is of 300 Ha at F.R.L. . The project proposes to provide irrigation to 2800 Ha during Khariff and 875 Ha during Rabi season. The Baghalati command area receives an average annual precipitation of 1096 mm and the rainfall in a 75% dependable year is 850 mm. The rainfall is almost confined to the monsoon months of June to October, when about 90% of the total rainfall is received. During the rest period of the year, the rainfall received is practically lost in infiltration and evaporation. The river Bahuda which. originates from th.e Eastern ghats, is mostly flowing adjacent to the hill range. As so, the command area is almost undulated with valleys and ridges. There is no problem like, drainage congestion and waterlogging. . Paddy is the principal crop of the area and is mostly sown in Khariff. Other crops like Ragi, Til and Pulses etc. are grown in the upland. In the present study, "SYSTEM ANALYSIS FOR BAGHALATI IRRIGATION PROJECT IN ORISSA" project planning (iv) has been carriedout by modelling the system through Linear programming, for preliminary screening purposes. Finally, Simulation technique has been adopted for selecting the best feasible solution among various alternatives. As the project lies in a drought prone area,the. aim of the study is to findout that, how best the irrigation needs of the basin can be met with. It is found that, the optimal annual irrigation on 50% dependability is of the order of 4819.7 Ham. This gives an increased irrigation target which is 7% more than the project provision of 4517.73 Ham and therefore is recommended for the project. The reservoir capacity is 3875 Ham as per the project provisions. The reservoir will generally be full in the begining of November and on many occassions, it will be empty in the beginning of September.