|
Previous
Next
|
| Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems in Nepal. |
|
Reference |
| Pradhan, Prachanda: " Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems in Nepal.", Nepal Field Operations of International Irrigation Management Institute, Kathmandu. (Year of publishing is not mentioned, but reference has been made to articles from 1989). |
|
Introduction to the Institution |
| Prior to 1973, the lack of water within the current command area of Pithuwa irrigation system , allowed farmers to grow only maize. In 1970, the farmers were given 15.000 Rs under the Minor Irrigation Development program to construct an irrigation system in Pithuwa. The main canal was dug, using the fund and voluntary labor. As the canal did not function properly, the government was approached again, and in 1973 a government office undertook the construction of the irrigation system. |
|
Coverage of the Institution |
| Geographical and historical coverage is not reported. The institution is concurrent. |
|
Rules for Management
of the Institution |
|
(a) Boundary Rules |
| Not reported. |
|
(b) Governance
rules |
| Initially no rules for governance were implemented. As this caused a number of conflicts and feuds, initial attemps of setting up a system of governance were made (see Conflict). Today the irrigation system is governed as follows; All farmers serviced by the system are members of the general assembly. The general assembly will meet each year in June at a central location to discuss the following issues; general principles of managing water in the system; election of the main committee secretary and chairman; approval or disapproval of accounts presented of the secretary; reviewing wether decisions made at the previous general assembly were implemented. The Main Committee, which is the central governance body of the system, has 18 members; The chairman and secretary elected by the general assembly and chairmen of 16 branch committees. The Main Committee is active from late June till late October and hold at least one meeting a month, depending on the issues which has to be discussed. Major functions of the main committee are to implement the decisions of the general assembly and supervise overall operation of the main canal. At branch level, members of branch canal committees are chosen at the annual branch canal farmers assembly. The branch canal committees have written rules, account books and minutes of meetings. |
|
(c) Resource Allocation |
| A rotation schedule has been set up to allocate water among the users. If a farmer breaks the rotation schedule he will be fines 25 Rs. the first time. The second time he will be fined 50 Rs. and his turn for water is cancelled. For at third offense he is not allocated any water at all.Not reported. |
|
Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| Initially when the main canal was completed and water released, water distribution was laissez-faire; no rules were formulated and the farmers exploited the system at their own wish. The irrigation system was operated and partly constructed by the government. Therefore the water was seen as a government resource for anyone to exploit. This caused conflicts and feuds over water share within the system. Eventually, one prominent farmer, who had received formal training in community development activities, took the initiative to organize the farmers within one branch of the system , branch 14, into a committee. As farmer participation in the activities of the committee rose, conflicts over watersharing decreased. Later all branches followed the example of branch 14 and created branch committees for water allocation and distribution. Today, due to an effective system of sanctions, only few problems concerning water distribution and water allocation are reported. |
|
Problems Faced by Institution |
| Not reported. |
|
Changes in the Institution over time |
| See Conflict. |
|
Other Features of Institution |
| The system seems to be quite effective, mainly due to the strong position of branch committees, who are likely to be more flexible in meeting farmers needs. |
|
Purpose |
| Irrigation Management. |
|
Country |
| Nepal. |
|
Region |
| Chitwan district. |
|
Date Of Publication |
| TroB 030496 |
|
|
