(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM)

[JULY-2022]

Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM)

Context:

Participatory irrigation Management (PIM) broadly refers to the formation of groups of water users, mainly farmers, in o formal body for the purpose of managing ports or whole of an irrigation system. Such bodies are generally called Water Users’ Associations (WUA), but are also known by the names such as Pani Panchayat, Pani Samiti or irrigation cooperatives. In this approach, water users/farmers are involved as active stakeholders in management of irrigation systems right from planning and design to construction, design, maintenance, distribution and even financing. PIM policy of Government of India aims to create a sense of ownership of water resources end irrigation system among the users, so as to promote economy and efficiency in water use. Such type of ownership encourages better use of water through better choice of crops, cropping sequences and also regulates timing, period and frequency of water supply for optimum utilisation of irrigation water. In PIM based irrigation systems, it is the combined responsibility of the formers to collect water charges from users and make payment to irrigation agency. Thus, a healthy relationship gets created and maintained between the irrigation agency and users.
To develop and popularise PIM as a viable tool of irrigation water management, a legal framework was needed in the country. Accordingly, the Ministry of Water Resources brought out a Model Act to be adopted by State Legislatures for enacting new irrigation acts or amending the existing ones to facilitate PIM. A good number of States have enacted new irrigation acts which now govern /regulate the constitution and functioning of Water Users Associations. Farmer Organisations are tier for minor and medium irrigation projects, four tier for major irrigation projects ore mentioned below:

Water User’ Association (WUA): In a WUA, all water users are its members and it has a Managing Committee (President and 4-10 members). Each WUA has a delineated command area. Generally, it covers a group of outlets or a minor irrigation system.
Distributary committee (DC): It comprises five or more WUAs. All the presidents of WUAs will comprise general body of the Distributary Committee.
Project Committee (PC): This is the apex committee of an irrigation system and presidents of the DCs in the project area shall constitute general body of the PC.