OPTIMAL LAYOUT OF WATER COURSES AND DRAINAGE WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO MUSAFIRKHANA PILOT PROJECT

Abstract

So far major emphasis has been placed on construction of dams and canals for utilizing wat-r for irrigation purposes, whilst water management which is directly related to proluc--tion has been over looked and left to farmers which in general has created a vast flap between the creation and utilisation of irrigation potential. To over come this gap, Govt. of India created command area development authorities for integrated development of areas served by major projects. A no. of pilot demonstration projects for proper development of irrigation potential were sanctioned. The Musafirkhana Pilot Project is one of such project in Uttar Pradesh. In the Musafirkhana pilot project, field channels are almost non-existence or if there are some, those are zig-zag and all the fields do not have direct assessment to canal water. Field to field irrigation is practiced which gives very low efficiency. Moreover there are no proper drainage and farm road. This dissertation deals with the best possible layout of field channel and drainage paths both from water conserva-tion as well as economic consideratioii. An attempt has also been made to find out the most economical length of lining of water courses giving maximum direct benefits in terms of monetary values of pilot project area. The study has iii indicated that besides other factors, discount rate and running schedule of channels play an important role in deciding the extent of lining. The study also indicates that it , is economical to provide a system of unlined channel in conjunction with tube-wells, so as to utilize the water lost through unlined channels in the same area.