Back ground:

     In an agricultural state like Tamilnadu, there is need for intensifying efforts to improve productivity, and income. Growth in agriculture depends on increasing the efficiency and productive use of water. There is a need in this area in strengthening and integrating of institutional structures which can help small and marginal farmer’s access to irrigation management and improved agriculture practices.

     Faster growth in agriculture is central to sustainable development and poverty reduction. Agriculture accounts for 15.7% of total GSDP, farm income accounts for half of household income for 56 % of the state’s population who live in rural areas. Much of this rural population is poor, with estimates ranging from 20.6% to 31%. For the poorest (approximately 1.5 million households, or 7.5 million people), more than three-quarters of income is derived from agriculture with agricultural wage labour alone accounting for half the income. Given the importance, growth in labour-intensive agriculture reduces rural poverty through higher yields to agricultural producers, higher wages to agricultural laborers, and increased income as well as employment opportunities.

     Tamilnadu is one of the driest states in India, with only 925 millimeters of rainfall a year. The per capita availability of water resources in Tamilnadu (population about 62 million) is only 900 cubic meters a year, when compared to 2,200 cubic meters for all of India. The state’s dry season lasts five months from January to May and severe droughts occur severely limiting cultivation of crops between June and September. Tamilnadu geographic area can be grouped into 17 river basins (127 Sub Basins) a majority of which are water-stressed. There are 70 major reservoirs, about 40,000 tanks (traditional water harvesting structures) and about 3 million wells, that heavily utilize the available surface and groundwater Agriculture is the largest consumer of water in the state, using 75% of the state’s water. Approximately 30% of the net irrigated area of 30 lakh hectares is irrigated by canals and 21% by tanks, while 49% is fed by wells and the remaining area is irrigated by other sources such as streams and springs.

     The irrigation infrastructure that is the backbone of the irrigated areas is in considerable need of modernization and a new paradigm for operations and maintenance. This includes rehabilitation of irrigation canal systems at all levels, restoration and revival of tanks etc.,

     An Expert Committee on “Development and Management of Water Resources” observed that bringing additional area into cultivation is remote, but the challenge is how best to bridge the gap in cultivation and by effective water management and adoption of modern agricultural techniques The committee recommended Integrated Water Resources Management as the desired option. That is, there needs to be better mechanisms for these institutions related to irrigation work together in a coordinated manner to achieve and sustain the productivity improvement translated to increased farmer income.

     With agriculture sector facing major constraints due to poor irrigation infrastructure, long term growth in agriculture and rural income depends in large part on increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the use of water. Increased agricultural diversification and private investments in higher value processing are likely to generate new rural non-farm employment opportunities and raise rural incomes. Increased availability of water and greater efficiency of water use through widespread adoption of drip and sprinkler irrigation could enable cultivation of crops over larger area, providing employment in agricultural production and processing, benefiting the rural poor.

     It is with this back ground that the Irrigated Agriculture Modernization and Water-Bodies Restoration and Management (IAMWARM) project is prepared converging all line departments. The project aims to improve the service delivery in the selected sub-basins and productivity of irrigated agriculture with effective integrated water resources management in a river basin / sub-basin framework in Tamilnadu with the following broad objectives:

1. Improving irrigation service delivery including adaptation of modern water-saving irrigation technologies and agricultural practices;


2. Forming water users associations and involving farmers on water resources management;


3. Agricultural intensification and diversification; and


4. Strengthening institutions and instruments dealing with water resources management.

Project’s development objective:

• Increase in area (hectares) served by irrigation system in 63 selected sub-basins which are to be rehabilitated and modernized. Works in 12 sub-basins by first year, 14 sub-basins in second year and 37 sub-basins in the third year will be commenced and the project period will be 6 years for completion of all works;


• Increase in agricultural productivity; (net benefits per unit of water delivered in Rs/m3 )


• Enhanced farm income adopting modern practices through increase in fish production in targeted water bodies (tons/year) and improved livestock health;


• Increase in targeted stakeholders’ income;


• Establishment of the State Water Resources Management Agency (SWaRMA) and three sub-basin and one Basin Development and Management Boards by the end of the project


• Development of good-practice and decision support systems for sustainable water resources management which is piloted in three sub-basins and basin


• Ensuring remunerative farm income with better marketing strategy

Project Components:

Irrigation systems modernisation in a sub-basin framework (Base cost Rs.1273 crore)

This component seeks to improve water delivery to irrigation system through modernisation of irrigation systems and service delivery and management in schemes in about 63 selected project sub-basins. Activities will be carried out under two sub-components by WRO which includes:

• Repair for minimizing wastage and improving conveyance efficiency;
  
• Rehabilitation of Water- Bodies(Tanks) and improving the impounding capacity by Standardization of Canal banks and desalting to some extent ;
  
• Improving the regulation works by Providing flow measuring structures;
  
• Improving the accessibility for Operation & Maintenance;
  
• Ground Water recharge structures in over exploited blocks in the sub-basin
  
• Environmental assessment and Pilot studies to address environmental issues in the sub-basin
  

Sub-component A1: Tank System Modernisation

This sub-component will focus on reviving water bodies that are an integral part of most irrigation systems networks in the state. Special effort will be made to consider tanks to yield sustainable benefits to the farmers of such systems.


Sub-component A2: Other Irrigation Systems Modernisation

This sub-component will focus on the few sub-basins where tanks are not part of the larger canal irrigated systems. These irrigation systems in the sub-basin will also be modernized in a shared-vision.

Institutional Modernisation for Irrigated Agriculture(Base cost Rs. 237 crore)

This seeks to improve the institutional capacity for modern, efficient, and accountable irrigation service delivery. These activities will be implemented through the WRO and the WUAs. The activities are expected to scale-up the institutional capacity at the WRO to design, and modernize their assets in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner and to more effectively interact with much stronger WUAs.

Other activities in this component are:

• Computerization with net work connectivity for all WRO offices, EMIS, LAN and WAN connectivity network


• Provision of consultant and training support


• Support for study tours & seminars


• Supports participatory irrigation management and Training Cells in EIC’s Office and promotion of R& D by creation of Irrigation Research Fund.

Water Resources Management (Base cost Rs. 22.50 crore)

The objective is to improve the institutional arrangements and capacity for sustainable water resources management in the State. This will include the creation of a State Water Resources Management Authority (SWaRMA), amalgamating the existing Institute for Water Studies and the State Ground and Surface Water Resources Data Centre.

These activities are to be implemented by the SWaRMA (and its predecessor institutions till this is formed), the WRO, and Basin Boards. These investments should make Tamil Nadu one of the best examples of operationalising modern sustainable Water Resources Planning and Management concept in a basin framework in India.


The other activities in this component are:

• Effective use of information for water resources planning and management


• Strengthening the framework for sustainable water resources management


• Study of cooum sub-basin rural-urban interface


• Promotion of research using water resources research fund (WRRF)

Component E: Project Management support (base cost Rs. 37.50 crore)

This component will support the management and coordination efforts related to this project by the Multi-Disciplinary Project Unit (MDPU), which will improve the challenging institutional coordination function, and undertake corrective measures as required through the implementing agencies

• MDPU will also monitor all activities related to project, procurement management and financial control.
  
• Will cause preparation of high-quality sub-basin development plans for the 63 sub-basins through the implementing agencies.
  
• Monitoring and evaluation activities including baseline studies
  
• Construction of new building to house MDPU staff and WRO units
  
• All media awareness and related communication assignments
  

Implementation:

The Project will be implemented over a period of 6 years. The main implementing agencies will be the Water Resources Organization (WRO), Agricultural Engineering, Agriculture, Horticulture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Agricultural Marketing, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Departments with management support and co-ordination provided by the Multi Disciplinary Project Unit (MDPU). It is proposed to commence implementation from financial year 2007-2008 onwards. The total project cost including physical and price contingencies is assessed as Rs. 2547 crore (US$ 566m) .Against this the World Bank has agreed to reimburse Rs.2183 crore (US$ 485m) including a Government of India grant of US$ 75m.