In Bidar, the tanks are dry even after the onset of monsoon. Of the 797 villages in the district, 200 villages face water shortage. In Kolar district, which has the highest number of tanks in the State people are digging the earth to over 1000 feet with the hope of striking potable water only to get water with high fluoride and nitrate content. All the big tanks are dry. Chikballapur faces water shortage even though it has several tanks. Even some of the tanks in a high rainfall district such as Udupi, are empty. The story is same in many parts of State.
Tank woes
The tanks which once provided adequate water to meet the needs of the people are no longer doing so. What remains in many parts of the State even after the onset of monsoon are dried up tank beds. In some cases, the tanks have broken weirs or damaged tank bunds or are choked with sewage.
Many of the 1300 tanks in Hassan are dying because of encroachments. Some tanks such as the Huniskere have been converted into a layout. The situation is similar in Mandya. Desilting of some of the tanks such as the Sathanur Kere was not possible because of encroachments. The lake has shrunk from 100 to 30 acres.
In Kolar, tanks have lost over 50 per cent of their water holding capacity due to silt and 40 per cent of them have been encroached. Due to which the area under agriculture is shrinking in the district. In some cases, the tanks don’t even exist as they have been fully encroached as in Bangalore City. Mudlifting for brick making has become another problem that threatens the existence of tanks.
The breach of the Gadimakunte tank in Jagalur taluk of Davangere district due to heavy rains is a pointer to the state of maintenance. The people of Jagalur who were in desperate need to store water could not do so as the bund collapsed at a crucial time. On the Western Ghats in Uttar Kannada district, the problem is no different. All the 13 tanks in and around Sirsi town are dry or in a state of mismanagement. Also in some of the tanks uphill, rich farmers use pumpsets to draw water for their fields.
Several reports in the past have recommended to vegetate the foreshore of the tanks to improve habitat for birds. And that no development works must be conducted till about 500 metres from the eye-water mark of the tank to ensure the quality of water replenishment, but these recommendations have been neglected time and again.
The Bonal tank in Gulbarga was built by Pam Naik in 17th century, and later Captain Meadows Taylor, who was a representative of the British at Surpur, increased the capacity of the tank to 1,600 acres with an average depth of 12 feet.
The perennial nature of the tank and the availability of the of food throughout the year, has made it a favourite nestling place for migratory birds. Even though the Bonal tank is almost thrice the size of Ranganthittu and attracts more species of birds, the tank lacks attention from the State government. Some of the rare birds that regularly visit the tank include White Necked Stork, White Ibes, Black Ibes, Brahmini Duck, Bar Headed Goose, Finitail, Common Tail, Tuff Tede, Pochad, Snake Bird, Purple Moorhen, Koot Large, Large Carmorand and Little Carmorand.
The same is the fate of other tanks and lakes in the district. Gulbarga district has also been bypassed by the Jalasamvardhane project in spite of the number of lakes in the district.
Enhance biodiversity
Karnataka has the second largest arid tract in the country after Rajasthan. Yet, it sustains a large population because people in the past found a way to tide over water scarcity by their ingenuity. Bunds were constructed across small seasonal streams to collect water. The impounded water was used for human and animal consumption and agriculture. In all, there are 36,679 tanks in the State having a potential to irrigate 6,84,518 hectares. And, Kolar district which does not have any perennial river, has the distinction of having the largest number of tanks in the State, about 4000. The largest tank in the State, Sulekere in Davangere district was built in the 12 th century and covers an area of 2,627 hectares.
Over the years, tanks are getting recognition for another reason. Many of the tanks in the State harbour a rich variety of aquatic plants, fishes, birds and other aquatic biota. “Tanks are wonderful habitats for water birds as they are dynamic habitats. They flock to these waterbodies in thousands during December to March across the State. Some of them are also used as a stop-over for birds that migrate from north to south India. Apart from the other water birds, many rare birds are also known to frequent tanks in North Karnataka. So it is crucial that tanks are maintained properly,” says Dr S Subramanya, an expert on birds, who has contributed to the book Threatened Birds of Asia.
Water use inefficiency
The tanks going dry can only be partially attributed to drought. “Mismanagement of water and bad cropping practice are the main factors. It has got more to do with excess withdrawal of water and growing the wrong crop. If one judiciously conserved rainwater, the situation will not aggravate,” says Dr M B Krishna who was one of the authors of the proposals for the National Lake Conservation Plan. To bolster the argument, Mr S M Ali Hasan of the Minor Irrigation department in Bidar says that amount of water used by paddy cultivation is thrice that for crops such as ragi.
There is also a gross inefficiency in use of water in the agriculture sector as only 40 per cent of the water released is used by the crops. Farmers violate prescribed cropping pattern and also adopt water intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane. Precious water is wasted due to seepage and evaporation, warns the State of Environment Report, 2003. With the thrust on borewells to irrigate land, the importance of revival of tanks is going down. Tanks going dry and excessive withdrawal of groundwater for agriculture has also resulted in depletion of severe groundwater in 43 taluks across the State.
Desliting programmes
In many areas of the State, the much promised desilting of tanks has not taken place. As part of the Raitha Kayaka Kere scheme, a desilting programme was launched in Savalaganga tank, which is about 800 hectares large, in Honnali Taluk in 2001. But complete desilting is yet to take place even after three-years. Similar is the case for several tanks in Udupi and Raichur. Last year, the minor irrigation department spent only Rs 4.73 crore for tank maintenance and desilting in South Karnataka. An official of the minor irrigation department (which has about 3,000 lakes under its custody), says that there is shortage of funds to maintain and desilt tanks.
Tank management
The government has set up two new societies for restoration of tanks and their management system in the State. One is the Lake Development Authority (see Box: Urban lakes) and the other is the Jala Samvardhane Yojana Sangha (JSYS) (Also see interview). The JSYS was a follow up of the Rs 670 crore Karnataka Community Based Tank Management project undertaken by the State government to develop and strengthen management of tanks involving people. The whole premise of the project is on re-inventing the wheel – reminding the community of the forgotten tradition of maintaining tanks and giving them a sense of ownership. The involvement of the community in maintaining these waterbodies waned following the take over of management of these tanks by the British and subsequently by the government in post independence India. Presently, the tanks in the State are under the control of the ZPs (tanks less than 40 ha), minor irrigation (tanks more than 40 hectares to 2000 ha), and major irrigation departments (tanks over 2000 ha).
Totally, 2,000 tanks in 34 taluks and nine districts will be covered in the project (see table Decentralised management: JSYS tanks). The main reason for the setting up of the JSYS has been to facilitate rejuvenation of tanks with people participation.
Under the project, tank users groups would be formed in villages to rejuvenate and maintain their tank (which includes the tank bed, command and catchment area). The villagers will contribute 6 pc in cash and 6 pc in terms of voluntary labour. The remaining amount will be borne by the JSYS. The Tank Users Group will carry out the activities under the plan. The JSYS provides technical assistance to the tank users groups, impart knowledge on farming and efficient use of water by involving the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Dharwad and NGOs. “The outcome of the exercise has been the adopting of a new method of paddy cultivation called as the Madagascar method which uses very less water compared to normal cultivation in some of the areas,” says Basavaraj, an agriculture expert at JSYS. There are also other components to improve the economic conditions of the people.
“In tune with the Tank Maintenance Policy of 2001, the TU groups after restoring the tank gets the right to collect water charges from water users. The groups can retain 90 per cent of the amount which can be used for maintaining the tank system. The rest 10 per cent is to be paid to the government, ” explains Dr P Bore Gowda, Executive Director, JSYS. This approach helps the community maintain the tank and can also be a sustainable model, he adds. The funding agency, the World Bank is impressed with the model and wants to extend the same to Sri Lanka.
As of now this approach has been tried only in 128 tanks in the State and there are about 18,00 tanks where it needs to be still implemented according to the project proposal. And, there are only four more years to go! Associate Professor M K Ramesh of the National Law School feels that the JSYS should also restructure itself to reflect the aspirations of the communities which are managing tanks. It should help the State to evolve a proper policy to ensure that the benefits derived from the management of tanks remain with the community. This would ensure sustainability of the model, he says.
As of now it appears that the attempts to decentralise the management of tanks through communities has a long way to go before the tanks regain their lost glory.
A few decades ago, Hubli-Dharwad cities had several tanks but they were converted into a stadium, shopping complexes and residential plots. The famous Sadhanakeri in Dharwad which inspired noted poet Dr Da Ra Bendre is on a death-knell due to shortsightedness of bureaucrats and elected representatives. Another beautiful tank, the Unkal tank in Hubli is choked to the brim with sewage. Similar is the case with the well-known Amanikere in Tumkur city which was built in 1130 AD by Chola King Rajendra Chola.
This is unlike the case of Mysore where the situation is better. The Mysore Jala Samrakshana Okkoota comprising the DC, city commissioner, other government heads and representatives of NGOs was formed to restore the five tanks in Mysore. Among the five Kukkarahalli and Karanji tanks have been restored using grants given by the Asian Development Bank. As part of the restoration process, deweeding, desilting and diversion of sewage was done. But the fate of the three tanks is not known (Devanoor, Dalvoy and Lingambudhi). In 2002, the government constituted the Lake Development Authority to protect and conserve lakes in the urban limits of the entire State.
Bellary 53
Chitradurga 72
Tumkur 397
Kolar 1,024
Bagalkot 26
Koppal 21
Raichur 158
Haveri 228
Bidar 26
INTERVIEW WITH DR P BORE GOWDA
With inputs from Shankar Bennur in Mysore, Shyam Sundar Vattam in Hubli, Anand Yamnur in Gulbarga, Girish Kerodi in Davangere, Vidya Maria Joseph in Shimoga, Ramakrishna Murthy in Udupi, M G Balakrishna in Karwar, Arvind in Tumkur, Mariyappa in Kolar, Rajesh Hegde in Raichur, Muralidhar Kulkarni in Bidar, Sridhar in Mandya, Shivkumar Kanasogi in Hassan and Sripada Joshi in Bellary.
This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 27th July, 2004.
The government is implementing a Rs 670 cr project, called the Karnataka Community Based Tank Management Project, to restore tanks in the State. Dr P Bore Gowda, Executive Director of Jala Samvardhane Yojane Sangha, an autonomous society set up under the Water Resources Department, which is facilitating the implementation of the project, shared his views about the project.
What are your achievements?
This is a pilot project and the first of its kind in the country and we are in the early stage of implementation and there is four more years to go.
The project is in various stages of implementation in about 100 tanks. Every stakeholder including government departments are being involved in the project. This is also the first time we are working with the community but the results so far have been good. The response from the community has been good.
Sustainability of the project after funding is stopped?
This is a crucial issue. We are working out the institutional arrangements. We want to link the tank users groups with the panchayats as one of their sub committees so that there is adequate funding later.
Any success stories?
The World bank is impressed and it wants to extend our model to other parts of the country and also in Sri Lanka. Even the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department wants to extend the same model to other tanks not covered under the project.
Tank woes
The tanks which once provided adequate water to meet the needs of the people are no longer doing so. What remains in many parts of the State even after the onset of monsoon are dried up tank beds. In some cases, the tanks have broken weirs or damaged tank bunds or are choked with sewage.
Many of the 1300 tanks in Hassan are dying because of encroachments. Some tanks such as the Huniskere have been converted into a layout. The situation is similar in Mandya. Desilting of some of the tanks such as the Sathanur Kere was not possible because of encroachments. The lake has shrunk from 100 to 30 acres.
In Kolar, tanks have lost over 50 per cent of their water holding capacity due to silt and 40 per cent of them have been encroached. Due to which the area under agriculture is shrinking in the district. In some cases, the tanks don’t even exist as they have been fully encroached as in Bangalore City. Mudlifting for brick making has become another problem that threatens the existence of tanks.
The breach of the Gadimakunte tank in Jagalur taluk of Davangere district due to heavy rains is a pointer to the state of maintenance. The people of Jagalur who were in desperate need to store water could not do so as the bund collapsed at a crucial time. On the Western Ghats in Uttar Kannada district, the problem is no different. All the 13 tanks in and around Sirsi town are dry or in a state of mismanagement. Also in some of the tanks uphill, rich farmers use pumpsets to draw water for their fields.
Several reports in the past have recommended to vegetate the foreshore of the tanks to improve habitat for birds. And that no development works must be conducted till about 500 metres from the eye-water mark of the tank to ensure the quality of water replenishment, but these recommendations have been neglected time and again.
The Bonal tank in Gulbarga was built by Pam Naik in 17th century, and later Captain Meadows Taylor, who was a representative of the British at Surpur, increased the capacity of the tank to 1,600 acres with an average depth of 12 feet.
The perennial nature of the tank and the availability of the of food throughout the year, has made it a favourite nestling place for migratory birds. Even though the Bonal tank is almost thrice the size of Ranganthittu and attracts more species of birds, the tank lacks attention from the State government. Some of the rare birds that regularly visit the tank include White Necked Stork, White Ibes, Black Ibes, Brahmini Duck, Bar Headed Goose, Finitail, Common Tail, Tuff Tede, Pochad, Snake Bird, Purple Moorhen, Koot Large, Large Carmorand and Little Carmorand.
The same is the fate of other tanks and lakes in the district. Gulbarga district has also been bypassed by the Jalasamvardhane project in spite of the number of lakes in the district.
Enhance biodiversity
Karnataka has the second largest arid tract in the country after Rajasthan. Yet, it sustains a large population because people in the past found a way to tide over water scarcity by their ingenuity. Bunds were constructed across small seasonal streams to collect water. The impounded water was used for human and animal consumption and agriculture. In all, there are 36,679 tanks in the State having a potential to irrigate 6,84,518 hectares. And, Kolar district which does not have any perennial river, has the distinction of having the largest number of tanks in the State, about 4000. The largest tank in the State, Sulekere in Davangere district was built in the 12 th century and covers an area of 2,627 hectares.
Over the years, tanks are getting recognition for another reason. Many of the tanks in the State harbour a rich variety of aquatic plants, fishes, birds and other aquatic biota. “Tanks are wonderful habitats for water birds as they are dynamic habitats. They flock to these waterbodies in thousands during December to March across the State. Some of them are also used as a stop-over for birds that migrate from north to south India. Apart from the other water birds, many rare birds are also known to frequent tanks in North Karnataka. So it is crucial that tanks are maintained properly,” says Dr S Subramanya, an expert on birds, who has contributed to the book Threatened Birds of Asia.
Water use inefficiency
The tanks going dry can only be partially attributed to drought. “Mismanagement of water and bad cropping practice are the main factors. It has got more to do with excess withdrawal of water and growing the wrong crop. If one judiciously conserved rainwater, the situation will not aggravate,” says Dr M B Krishna who was one of the authors of the proposals for the National Lake Conservation Plan. To bolster the argument, Mr S M Ali Hasan of the Minor Irrigation department in Bidar says that amount of water used by paddy cultivation is thrice that for crops such as ragi.
There is also a gross inefficiency in use of water in the agriculture sector as only 40 per cent of the water released is used by the crops. Farmers violate prescribed cropping pattern and also adopt water intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane. Precious water is wasted due to seepage and evaporation, warns the State of Environment Report, 2003. With the thrust on borewells to irrigate land, the importance of revival of tanks is going down. Tanks going dry and excessive withdrawal of groundwater for agriculture has also resulted in depletion of severe groundwater in 43 taluks across the State.
Desliting programmes
In many areas of the State, the much promised desilting of tanks has not taken place. As part of the Raitha Kayaka Kere scheme, a desilting programme was launched in Savalaganga tank, which is about 800 hectares large, in Honnali Taluk in 2001. But complete desilting is yet to take place even after three-years. Similar is the case for several tanks in Udupi and Raichur. Last year, the minor irrigation department spent only Rs 4.73 crore for tank maintenance and desilting in South Karnataka. An official of the minor irrigation department (which has about 3,000 lakes under its custody), says that there is shortage of funds to maintain and desilt tanks.
Tank management
The government has set up two new societies for restoration of tanks and their management system in the State. One is the Lake Development Authority (see Box: Urban lakes) and the other is the Jala Samvardhane Yojana Sangha (JSYS) (Also see interview). The JSYS was a follow up of the Rs 670 crore Karnataka Community Based Tank Management project undertaken by the State government to develop and strengthen management of tanks involving people. The whole premise of the project is on re-inventing the wheel – reminding the community of the forgotten tradition of maintaining tanks and giving them a sense of ownership. The involvement of the community in maintaining these waterbodies waned following the take over of management of these tanks by the British and subsequently by the government in post independence India. Presently, the tanks in the State are under the control of the ZPs (tanks less than 40 ha), minor irrigation (tanks more than 40 hectares to 2000 ha), and major irrigation departments (tanks over 2000 ha).
Totally, 2,000 tanks in 34 taluks and nine districts will be covered in the project (see table Decentralised management: JSYS tanks). The main reason for the setting up of the JSYS has been to facilitate rejuvenation of tanks with people participation.
Under the project, tank users groups would be formed in villages to rejuvenate and maintain their tank (which includes the tank bed, command and catchment area). The villagers will contribute 6 pc in cash and 6 pc in terms of voluntary labour. The remaining amount will be borne by the JSYS. The Tank Users Group will carry out the activities under the plan. The JSYS provides technical assistance to the tank users groups, impart knowledge on farming and efficient use of water by involving the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Dharwad and NGOs. “The outcome of the exercise has been the adopting of a new method of paddy cultivation called as the Madagascar method which uses very less water compared to normal cultivation in some of the areas,” says Basavaraj, an agriculture expert at JSYS. There are also other components to improve the economic conditions of the people.
“In tune with the Tank Maintenance Policy of 2001, the TU groups after restoring the tank gets the right to collect water charges from water users. The groups can retain 90 per cent of the amount which can be used for maintaining the tank system. The rest 10 per cent is to be paid to the government, ” explains Dr P Bore Gowda, Executive Director, JSYS. This approach helps the community maintain the tank and can also be a sustainable model, he adds. The funding agency, the World Bank is impressed with the model and wants to extend the same to Sri Lanka.
As of now this approach has been tried only in 128 tanks in the State and there are about 18,00 tanks where it needs to be still implemented according to the project proposal. And, there are only four more years to go! Associate Professor M K Ramesh of the National Law School feels that the JSYS should also restructure itself to reflect the aspirations of the communities which are managing tanks. It should help the State to evolve a proper policy to ensure that the benefits derived from the management of tanks remain with the community. This would ensure sustainability of the model, he says.
As of now it appears that the attempts to decentralise the management of tanks through communities has a long way to go before the tanks regain their lost glory.
URBAN LAKES
There are about 2,000 tanks at the urban centres in the State and many of them are facing abject neglect and abuse. Thanks to improper planning, encroachments, fragmentation of catchment areas, dumping of garbage and debris. With introduction of piped water from distant rivers at subsidised rates, the significance of these tanks as an easy source of water supply has also been lost.A few decades ago, Hubli-Dharwad cities had several tanks but they were converted into a stadium, shopping complexes and residential plots. The famous Sadhanakeri in Dharwad which inspired noted poet Dr Da Ra Bendre is on a death-knell due to shortsightedness of bureaucrats and elected representatives. Another beautiful tank, the Unkal tank in Hubli is choked to the brim with sewage. Similar is the case with the well-known Amanikere in Tumkur city which was built in 1130 AD by Chola King Rajendra Chola.
This is unlike the case of Mysore where the situation is better. The Mysore Jala Samrakshana Okkoota comprising the DC, city commissioner, other government heads and representatives of NGOs was formed to restore the five tanks in Mysore. Among the five Kukkarahalli and Karanji tanks have been restored using grants given by the Asian Development Bank. As part of the restoration process, deweeding, desilting and diversion of sewage was done. But the fate of the three tanks is not known (Devanoor, Dalvoy and Lingambudhi). In 2002, the government constituted the Lake Development Authority to protect and conserve lakes in the urban limits of the entire State.
DECENTRALISED TANK GOVERNANCE
The government is contemplating to transfer the management of tanks less than and upto 40 hectares in the State to the gram panchayats (GPs). As a result of this, the GP will get powers to maintain and manage these water bodies. Associate Professor M K Ramesh of the National Law School of India University feels that this is the most appropriate move. “This is in line with the Schedule 11, Art 243 G of the Constitution which states that the control and maintenance of community assets such as tanks, common lands and other common property resources lies with the community.” But the crucial question is would the zilla panchayats which are above the GPs give adequate resources to the GPs to manage these water bodies.
JSYS TANKS
Districts No of tanksBellary 53
Chitradurga 72
Tumkur 397
Kolar 1,024
Bagalkot 26
Koppal 21
Raichur 158
Haveri 228
Bidar 26
INTERVIEW WITH DR P BORE GOWDA
With inputs from Shankar Bennur in Mysore, Shyam Sundar Vattam in Hubli, Anand Yamnur in Gulbarga, Girish Kerodi in Davangere, Vidya Maria Joseph in Shimoga, Ramakrishna Murthy in Udupi, M G Balakrishna in Karwar, Arvind in Tumkur, Mariyappa in Kolar, Rajesh Hegde in Raichur, Muralidhar Kulkarni in Bidar, Sridhar in Mandya, Shivkumar Kanasogi in Hassan and Sripada Joshi in Bellary.
This article appeared in Deccan Herald on 27th July, 2004.
The government is implementing a Rs 670 cr project, called the Karnataka Community Based Tank Management Project, to restore tanks in the State. Dr P Bore Gowda, Executive Director of Jala Samvardhane Yojane Sangha, an autonomous society set up under the Water Resources Department, which is facilitating the implementation of the project, shared his views about the project.
What are your achievements?
This is a pilot project and the first of its kind in the country and we are in the early stage of implementation and there is four more years to go.
The project is in various stages of implementation in about 100 tanks. Every stakeholder including government departments are being involved in the project. This is also the first time we are working with the community but the results so far have been good. The response from the community has been good.
Sustainability of the project after funding is stopped?
This is a crucial issue. We are working out the institutional arrangements. We want to link the tank users groups with the panchayats as one of their sub committees so that there is adequate funding later.
Any success stories?
The World bank is impressed and it wants to extend our model to other parts of the country and also in Sri Lanka. Even the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department wants to extend the same model to other tanks not covered under the project.
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