Salvage Operations
in the Godavari Delta, India

This is the story of how the inaction of officials in India caused a water crisis of huge magnitude, and how timely, concerted community action averted it. In 2000-2001, a whole season's rice crop was saved, thanks to a unique coming together of both the government and the stakeholders.

Since 1877, the Godavari barrage (a dam with an upstream reservoir) has been providing irrigation water for two rice crops a year for more than 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of land in the western Godavari delta of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The mighty Godavari flows horizontally from western India to the south-east.

Known as the rice bowl of India, the Godavari delta assures farmers two crops a year. Here, agricultural workers command relatively high wages when compared to their peers elsewhere in the country.

On August 30, 2000, the Godavari area saw unprecedented floods and the water level at the Godavari barrage at Dowaleswaram in Andhra Pradesh almost reached the danger level of 5.41 meters (17.7 feet). The Rabi rice crop – the second crop that follows the first monsoon crop – was expected to be a bumper one, and the farmers were a happy lot.

But four months later, in December, a red alert was sounded; amazingly, the area was declared to be in the clutches of a drought! Water for irrigation was found to be only half of the normal 640,000 acre-feet.

What went wrong? Believe it or not, the responsible staff were negligent in closing the floodgates of the barrage soon after the water levels receded to safe levels. Thus, no water could be stored in the barrage, and the water flowing in the now-placid river was significantly inadequate.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister immediately swung into action – he coordinated with the district collector's office to release drought-relief funds. Other state government departments were drawn in as well, including those of revenue, irrigation and command area development, electricity, panchayat raj (local, village-level government), public health, and the police.

Thousands of cultivators came together in water users' associations out of a sense of collective urgency, and joined hands with the government. The entire second crop was saved.

A slew of simple and complex water conservation methods were effectively deployed by the state government, resulting in judicious use of the limited water. First, the inflows from the barrage to the canals were maximized, particularly from an inter-state hydroelectric project in the upstream. This water was used for irrigating the command (storage) area in the most economic manner.

Simultaneously, water from government-owned major, medium and minor irrigation projects within and adjacent to the command area was diverted. Canal water was banned for aquaculture, industrial use, and the irrigation of land not included under the registered command area. Long overdue plugging of holes in water pipes was undertaken on a war footing, and surface water from drains and other water bodies located at lower reaches were pumped for irrigation purposes.

The "turn system" that obstructs water in a canal to raise the water level until gravity takes over and it flows to the fields, was strictly monitored and implemented to democratize irrigation and minimize waste. Once a field is irrigated and the obstruction removed, this system allows water to be blocked at a lower level in the canal in order to irrigate another field. Regulating obstruction time to a minimum lead to considerable water saving.

As part of the salvage-and-save-water operations, other innovative moves were afoot as well. Transplanting of rice seedlings was successfully advanced. Weeds and silt in the channels were removed to facilitate water saving through evapotranspiration, and to increase the storage capacity of the canals.

Since it is optimal rather than excessive water usage that leads to higher yields, the water shortfall in 2000-2001 ironically resulted in increased grain production! The overall gain was a dizzy 580 million rupees (US$12.3 million).

Information about the contributor:

Name: Dr. R. Jagadiswara Rao
Organization: Sri Venkateswara University
Email: rjr@vsnl.com
Country: India

R. Jagadiswara Rao got his Ph.D. in geology in 1965. His work as a teacher, researcher, field worker, consultant and extension worker in the management of land and water resources dates back to 1965. He retired as Principal and Professor of Geology at Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India. He has been part of water organizations and water forums over the years and in December 2002, he received a special award as a Water Messenger by the sponsors of the 3rd World Water Forum. Professor Rao's ambition is to work toward a solution to water problem in cooperation with the giants in the field through pragmatic, innovative and cost-effective methods.