proposed to take off from the right bank of the Sutlej, and to
irrigate about 600,000 acres in the Montgomery and Multan
districts, at a cost of Rx. 2,500,000. These three last projects
would add 2,774,000 acres to the irrigated area of the province,
and as they would flow through tracts almost unpeopled, they
would afford a most valuable outlet for the congested districts
of northern India. In addition to these great perennial canals,
much has been done since 1878 in enlarging and extending
what are known as the “inundation canals” of the Punjab,
which utilize the flood waters in the rivers during the monsoon
season and are dry at other times. By these canals large portions
of country throughout most of the Punjab are brought under
cultivation, and the area thus watered has increased from
about 180,000 to 500,000 acres since 1878.
It is on inundation canals such as these that the whole cultivation
of Sind depends. In 1878 the area was about 1,500,000
acres; in 1896–1897 it had increased to 2,484,000 acres. This
increase was not due to famine in Sind, for that rainless province
depends always on the Indus, as Egypt does on the Nile, and
where there is no rainfall there can be no drought. But the famine
prices obtained for agricultural produce doubtless gave an impetus
to cultivation. In Sind, too, there is room for much increase
of irrigation. It has been proposed to construct two
new canals, the Jamrao and the Shikárpur, and to improve and
extend three existing canals—Nasrat, Naulakhi and Dad.
The total cost of these five projects, some of which are now
in progress, was estimated at Rx. 1,596,682, and the extension
of irrigation at 660,563 acres.
Turning from the basin of the
Indus to that of the Ganges,
the commissioners appointed to
report on the famine of 1896–1897
found that in the country between
the Ganges and the Jumna
little was left to be done beyond
the completion of some distributary
channels. The East India
Company’s great work, the Ganges
canal, constructed between 1840
and 1854 before there was a mile
of railway open in India, still
holds its place unsurpassed
among later irrigation work for
boldness of design and completeness
of execution, a lasting monument
to the genius of Sir Proby
Cautley, an officer of the Bengal
Artillery, but a born engineer.
Ever since 1870 consideration has
been given to projects for irrigating
the fertile province of Oudh by
means of a great canal to be drawn
from the river Sarda. The water is there in abundance, the land is
well adapted for irrigation, but as there is a considerable rainfall,
it is doubtful whether the scheme would prove remunerative,
and a large section of the landowners have hitherto opposed it, as
likely to waterlog the country. Among the four protective works
of irrigation which were said above to have irrigated 200,733
acres in 1896–1897, one of the most important is the Betwa canal,
in the parched district of Bundelkhand. This canal has cost
Rx. 428,086, and causes an annual loss to the state in interest
and working expenses of about Rx. 20,000. It irrigated, however,
in 1896–1897 an area of 87,306 acres, raising crops valued
at Rx. 231,081, or half the cost of the canal, so it may be said
to have justified its construction. A similar canal from the
river Ken in the same district has been constructed. Proceeding
farther east, we find very satisfactory progress in the
irrigation of southern Behar, effected by the costly system of
canals drawn from the river Sone. In 1877–1878 these canals
irrigated 241,790 acres. Rapid progress was not expected
here, and 792,000 acres was calculated as being the maximum
area that could be covered with the water supply available.
In the five years preceding 1901–1902 the average irrigated area
was 463,181 acres, and during that year the area was 555,156
acres, the maximum ever attained.
The canal system of Orissa was never expected to be remunerative,
since in five years out of six the local rainfall is
sufficient for the rice crop. In 1878–1879 the area irrigated was
111,250 acres, and the outlay up to date was Rx. 1,750,000. In
1900–1901 the area was 203,540 acres, the highest ever attained,
and the capital outlay amounted to Rx. 2,623,703. It should
be mentioned in favour of these canals that although the irrigation
is not of yearly value, they supply very important water
communication through a province which, from its natural
configuration, is not likely to be soon intersected by railways.
If, moreover, such a famine were again to occur in Orissa as that
of 1866–1867, there would be no doubt of the value of these fine
canals.
In the Madras presidency and in Mysore irrigation has long
assumed a great importance, and the engineering works of
the three great deltas of the Godavari, Kistna and Cauvery,
the outcome of the genius and indefatigable enthusiasm of
Sir Arthur Cotton, have always been quoted as showing what
a boon irrigation is to a country. In 1878 the total area of
irrigation in the Madras presidency amounted to about 5,000,000
acres. The irrigation of the eight productive systems was
1,680,178 acres, and the revenue Rx. 739,778. In 1898 there
were ten of these systems, with an irrigation area, as shown
by the accompanying table, of 2,685,915 acres, and a revenue
of Rx. 1,163,268:
| Irrigation. | Area Watered. | Total Revenue. | Total Expenditure. | Net Revenue. | Capital and Indirect Charges. | Percentage of Net Revenue to Capital. |
| Major Works. | Acres. | |||||
| 1. Godavari Delta | 779,435 | 328,443 | 68,376 | 260,067 | 1,297,807 | 19.15 |
| 2. Kistna Delta | 520,373 | 254,579 | 74,142 | 180,437 | 1,319,166 | 13.18 |
| 3. Pennar Weir System | 70,464 | 28,160 | 5,937 | 23,123 | 189,919 | 7.59 |
| 4. Sangam System | 76,277 | 32,627 | 7,037 | 25,590 | 385,601 | 3.68 |
| 5. Kurnool Canal | 47,008 | 15,622 | 12,404 | 3,218 | 2,171,740 | .15 |
| 6. Barur Tank System | 4,421 | 1,162 | 385 | 777 | 4,250 | 1.39 |
| 7. Cauvery Delta | 989,808 | 434,346 | 43,464 | 390,882 | 199,458 | 44.87 |
| 8. Srivaikuntam System | 41,668 | 19,349 | 4,680 | 14,669 | 147,192 | 5.45 |
| 9. Periyar Project | 89,143 | 37,526 | 10,751 | 26,775 | 852,914 | .27 |
| 10. Rushikulya Canal | 67,318 | 11,454 | 3,678 | 7,776 | 464,423 | .54 |
| Total | 2,685,915 | 1,163,268 | 229,954 | 933,314 | 7,032,470 | 7.88 |
| Minor Works. | ||||||
| 23 Works for which Capital and | ||||||
| Revenue Accounts are kept | 535,813 | 200,558 | 34,655 | 165,903 | 1,693,878 | 4.44 |
| Minor Works for which such | ||||||
| Accounts are not kept | 3,131,009 | 830,175 | 193,295 | 636,880 | .. | .. |
| Grand Total | 6,352,737 | 2,194,001 | 457,904 | 1,736,097 | .. | .. |
In the three great deltas, and the small southern one that depends on the Srivaikuntam weir over the river Tumbraparni, extension and improvement works have been carried on. The Sangam and Pennar systems depend on two weirs on the river Pennar in the Nellore district, the former about 18 m. above and the latter just below the town of Nellore. The former irrigates on the left, the latter on the right bank of the river. This district suffered severely in the famine of 1877–1878, and the irrigation works were started in consequence. The Barur tank system in the Salem district was also constructed after the famine of 1877–1878. As yet it has not fulfilled expectations. The Periyar scheme has for its object both the addition of new irrigation and the safeguarding of that which exists in the district of Madura, a plain watered by means of a great number of shallow tanks drawing their supply from a very uncertain river, the Vaigai. This river takes its rise on the eastern slopes of the Ghat range of mountains, and just opposite to it, on the western face of the range, is the source of the river Periyar. The rainfall on the west very much exceeds that on the east, and the Periyar used to find its way by a short torrent
