Panchayat Irrigation Management

Abstract

This article studies the role played by the constitutionally empowered Panchayati Raj Institutions over a large irrigation system in West Bengal. The article tries to capture the linkages and the dynamics governing interaction between the Gram Panchayats and the Water User Associations. The inferences are drawn from observed phenomenon pertaining to the role and relationship between the two sets of institutions over the Command Area Development Authority Programme (CADAP). While the advent of the canal water has created an agrarian dynamism over the canal command particularly among the marginal and landless farmers through boro-paddy cultivation, the process of institutionalizing farmers’ participation left much to be desired. While the representatives of the Water User Associations often faltered to draw collective action from the farmers, the political actors proved to be much stronger. However even these actors were not proactive and responded only to crisis situations. Thus the system continues to operate at the sub-optimal level and seems to have achieved a low level of equilibrium.