Abstract:
In the current study an attempt has been made to assess the effect of water management through a community participation and emergency of Pani Panchayat in a case study of Laxmi Narasima Pani Panchayat under Lift Irrigation Project of the Indravati Command Area (ICA) in Nawarangpur district of Odisha state in the Eastern part of India.The participating farms are more technically efficient in the production of kharif crop than the non participating farms. To examine the functions and otherwise of Water User Association (WUA) or Pani Panchayat promoted by the districts and the local traditional irrigation area institutions in the ICA, Odisha and to evaluate their functioning & characteristics in the context water management in local areas. The number of canal irrigation application and yield realization are higher on the participating farms than non participating
farms. The main objectives are; (1) To assess the understanding of PIM (participatory Irrigation Management) in KBK districts of Odisha. (2) To assess the impact of PIM in increasing the irrigation efficiency, (3)To suggest the ways & means to improve water irrigation in KBK. It seems that the Pani Panchayat act as regulatory institutions in taking charge for distribution of water on equitable basis and their performance has been practically weak and unsuccessful . Even if the Pani Panchayat is initiating and endorsing in the State
for more than a couple of years but the acceptance of the model have been poor. As Pani
Panchayat is a new concept which needs enough experiment and experience before finalizing
its content and constituent in greater detail, the irrigation agency is not in a position to
checkout the different components of the programme in concrete forms and the farmers
should be informed accordingly. Otherwise frequent changes in the provisions will make a
confusing situation to the farmers and they will lose the confidence in the irrigation
authority. A feasibility study should be under taken by examining the caste class confliction ,
groupism, political differences and history of local conflicts. The bottom up approach is
more necessity than that of the top-down for sustainability, to ensure that the benefits of the
project are equally distributed among all concern stakeholders for timely supply of good
quality agricultural inputs along with irrigation water management.
