The Design of Small Ponds for Minor Irrigation Schemes

Abstract

THE area of the Damodar catchment at the confluence of Damodar and 13araicar rivers is about 6,960 sq. miles. Of this about 1,400 sq, miles or about 900,003 acres are under paddy fields and about 1,250 sq. miles or about 800,000 acres are under upland cultivation. In the upper valley, upland cultivation is not given sufficient importance for various rea-sons, the discussion of which is beyond the scope of this paper with the result that the bulk of the agricultural produce comes from the paddy fields. The cultivators use a good deal of skill and labour on the paddy fields but in spite of all the care and hard work the crop yields are poor mainly due to lack of water at the proper time. Success-ful paddy cultivation is possible only with the provision of proper facilities for their irrigation under the prevailing conditions of rainfall incidence in the Valley. At present only a very small percentage of the area under paddy cultivation has irrigation facilities with the result that the major portion is dependent on good distribution of rainfall— a condition that does not fulfil very often. A solution to bypass this con-dition would be to provide irrigation faci-lities by conserving the water and using it when needed. The topography of the land is such that it is possible to construct small ponds at the top of paddy fields for the conservation of water that would otherwise run to waste. This water can be used on the paddy fields during long spells of draught.