On The Waterfront: Water Distribution, Technology And Agrarian Change In A South Indian Canal Irrigation System

Download or read book On The Waterfront: Water Distribution, Technology And Agrarian Change In A South Indian Canal Irrigation System written by Peter P. Mollinga and published by Orient Blackswan. This book was released on 2003 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Series: Wageningen University Water Resources Series. This book analyses the struggle over water in a large-scale irrigation system in Raichur District, Karnataka, South India. It looks at water control as a simultaneously technical, managerial and socio-political process. The triangle of accommodation of different categories of farmers, irrigation department officials and local politicians, involving water, votes, money, employment, credit and harassment, is documented. The book shows that the physical infrastructure, notably the division structures, are signposts of struggle, expressing the balance of power between farmers and the irrigation department, and that between head- and tail-end farmers. It concludes with a discussion of irrigation reform efforts in India: reasons for the very slow transformation of the sector, and how a more integrated perspective on irrigation could provide directions for the way forward.