International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage Commission Interationale des Irrigation et du Drainage



World Heritage Irrigation Structures

KC Canal (Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal)


The KC canal system is the first-ever man-made trans-basin conveyance schemes in India which move water from Krishna River basin, where it is available, to Pennar river basin where water is less available or could be utilized better for human development. The K.C. Canal is the major source of an irrigation canal in the drought-prone Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, India. It was constructed between 1863 and 1870 as an irrigation and navigation canal. Initially, the KC canal was designed for Navigation purpose. Then, Navigation was abandoned during 1933. This canal interconnects the rivers Pennar and Tungabhadra, this is the first-ever inter-linking of rivers of two basins in India. It starts from the Sunkesula barrage located on the Tungabhadra River near Kurnool.

Kurnool-Cuddapah canal (KC Canal) off-takes from Sunkesula anicut on Tungabhadra River, traverses through Kurnool and Kadapa (Cuddapah) districts and finally terminates at Cuddapah. This canal is connected to the natural streams Nippulavagu, Galeru, Kunderu and Pennar through controlling structures on these streams viz. Lock-In-Sula, Santajutur anicut, Rajoli anicut and Adinimmayapalli anicut, respectively.

History

Sri. Sir Arthur Cotton, British Engineer, who was responsible for Godavari and Krishna river anicuts, was consulted for trans-basin water from Krishna basin to Pennar basin, he recommended project comprising of irrigation and navigation canals from Tungabhadra river through Bellary, Kurnool, Cuddapah and Nellore districts viz.,

  1. A canal section from Velpapur to Sunkesula (Bellary section)
  2. A canal section from Sunkesula to Cuddapah (Sunkesula-Cuddapah section)
  3. A canal section from Cuddapah to Krishnapatnam (Nellore section)

Among the above recommendations, only Sunkesula – Cuddapah canal section was materialized.

This project owed its inception to the policy inaugurated in the middle of the 19th century of introducing British capital and enterprise in the construction of irrigation works in India. The canal forms only a section of the original ambitious design undertaken by the M/s. Madras Irrigation and Canal Company Limited (MICC) which was incorporated in 1858. The capital of the company was to be £l,000,000 on which Government guaranteed 5% interest. The Madras Government was not in favour of the work being undertaken by a private company, but the Government of India was desirous of attracting private capital to such enterprises and the highly successful results of irrigation work in the delta tracts as well as the views held by the late Sir Arthur Cotton and other irrigation experts contributed to the decision of the Secretary of State to accept the company’s proposals. The canal takes off from an anicut, 30 km above the town of Kurnool, on the river Tungabhadra, which skirts the district of Bellary and joins the Krishna in that of Kurnool. The anicut supplying the canal is built across the Tungabhadra at Sunkesula. It is 1.37 km in length, is founded on a rock, has a clear overfall, and is furnished with a set of under-sluices. The canal enters the Cuddapah district at Suddapalle in Jammalamadugu taluk and passing through the Proddatur taluk crosses the Pennar at the 292 km and finally discharges into a stream a few miles west of Cuddapah town. Its continuation parallel to the Penner as far as the Pulicat lake was originally contemplated but never carried out.

Owing to a threatened famine, work was commenced in the Kurnool section in 1860. As a result of the hasty procedure, engineering difficulties and mistakes, and extravagance and carelessness in the management, the guaranteed million was expended by 1866, by which time only half of the section had been completed. Fresh contracts were made in that year by which operations were restricted to the canal between Sunkesula and Cuddapah and new financial arrangements were made. By 1871 the canal was finished throughout its length, though its capacity and efficiency were by no means satisfactory.

Even then very little use was made of the water by the riots and except the famine years 1877-78, the working of the canal resulted in an annual deficit which was met by the Government. Given the increasing loss thus entailed, the Government purchased the canal and assumed charge on July I, 1882, at a cost which, including direct payments and claims surrendered, amounted to £3,018,758.

The total length of the canal which thus came into the possession of the State is 305.7 km, of which about 99 km lie in Cuddapah. Before the assumption of control by the Government, there had been considerable friction between the riots and the company’s officers and it had been thought for many years before the transfer took place that water applications would be made more readily if the canal were managed by Government agency.

Permanent causes operating against the financial success of the canal were however recognized, such as the sparseness of the population and the large tracts of heavy black cotton soil commanded by the canal, which needed no irrigation. As soon as Government took over its management, the irrigation rates were considerably lowered; but despite this concession and the change in administration little improvement was shown either in the area irrigated or in the revenue realized. In reviewing the Administration Report of Irrigation Works in the Madras Presidency for 1887-88, the Government of India remarked as follows:

“The financial position of this canal is in the last degree unsatisfactory; not only did the revenue fall off during the last year and the irrigated area decrease, but at no time since the canal was bought by Government has it been worked except at a heavy loss. There is a loss both in navigation and irrigation and, while the irrigation return is Rs. 2’5 per acre irrigated, the cost, of working expenses falls at Rs. 6-5 Irrigation per acre, and there is no prospect of any material improvement. The total estimated value of the crops raised under irrigation, Rs. 2,48,330, does not largely exceed the sum which it cost the Government to supply the water. The revenue expenditure on works and repairs alone (Rs. 1,11,780) is nearly double the income earned by the canal. It would appear that it might be economical to close the canal as an irrigating system merely keeping it in repairs to be ready to be put in working again if a season of drought should create a sudden demand for the water. The Governor-General in Council trusts that the Government of Madras will consider the question and formulate such proposals as may seem to them expedient with a view to putting a stop to the constant drain on the treasury, which the maintenance of the canal on its present footing entails.”

In August 1890, the Government accordingly sanctioned the appointment of a Special Deputy Collector for nine months to enquire into the possibilities existing for the further extension of irrigation under the canal. The report of this officer contained several suggestions, the most important of which was the appointment of a Special Revenue Officer on the canal. As a result of this report, the appointment of a Special Deputy Collector to be in revenue charge of the canal for two years from the l6th March 1894 was sanctioned by the Government and this appointment was, by subsequent extensions, continued till the end of March 1907. This measure met with a very considerable amount of success and inaugurated an era of improvement in the financial history of the canal. From 1894 to 1903 the excess of revenue over expenditure increased fourfold. The canal has been greater success in Cuddapah than in Kurnool, chiefly because the proportion of the commanded area adapted to irrigation is higher in the Cuddapah district.

Statistics of cultivation under the canal for the five years ending June 30, 1913, show that the average extent annually irrigated in this district is 28,702 acres, of which nearly 5,000 acres are cropped twice in the year. Connected with the Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal system are two important irrigation works known as the Chapad and Maidukuru (Mydukur) projects, which came into operation in the last decade. The Chapad channel and its distributaries benefit a tract of country extending about 12 miles south-eastwards from Gopavaram, a village three miles north of Proddatur, to the junction of the Kunder with the Penner, and lying wholly Irrigation between these rivers with a maximum breadth of about 6 miles. The project was first sanctioned as a famine relief work in 1897 at an estimated cost of about 350000 INR, and was put in hand in the year 1900 when work was needed for relief purposes. In the course of execution, it was found that the provision made for some of the works was inadequate and that some additional works were necessary for the completion of the scheme, with the result that the estimate was revised and the total expenditure incurred, including indirect charges, actually amounted to nearly six lakhs. The channel was opened for irrigation in 1904 and has at present five distributaries. It was however intended to construct a sixth distributary, for which purpose land was acquired. The Maidukuru (Mydukur) project takes its name from the village of Maidukuru (Mydukur) the northernmost of some nine villages situated along the Cuddapah-Kurnool road which are benefited by the project. The names of these villages are Mydukur, sivapuram, Pullur, Ravulapalle, Dumapalagattu, Chemallapalle, Chennamukkapalle, Buddayapalli & Bayanapalli. The Maidukuru (Mydukur) channel takes off from the left bank of the Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal at 171 miles, 40 chaius, and the project was designed to improve this channel for a distance of a little over 3 miles extend it for a length of II miles, to provide the necessary branch channels and masonry works to irrigate an extent of 8,000 acres in all, and in seasons of drought to supply tanks in the nine villages above mentioned. The project, originally estimated to cost about Rs. 2,30,000, was finally completed at an outlay of a little over three lakhs, and the area which it was intended to operate, namely 8,000 acres, has been brought under irrigation, so that it may be regarded as a successful enterprise by British rulers. The navigation system was abandoned during 1933 and the canal continued to be a major irrigation source. To improve the efficiency of the system, modernization of the entire canal and repairs/reconstruction of the structures is taken up under K.C. Canal modernization. The project is under construction to stabilize entire ayacut of KC Canal and to develop the gap ayacut of 60,000 acres. The canal presently irrigates nearly 1,65,000 acres with 40 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) water utilisation from the Krishna River. KC Canal has been modernised during 1996-2004 at a cost of more than 2000 crore rupees.

Water Heritage

First-Ever Inter River Basin Water Transfer Tungabhadra Sub Basin To Pennar Basin

KC canal system is the first-ever man-made conveyance schemes which move water from Krishna River basin, where it is available, to Pennar river basin where water is less available or could be utilized better for human development. The purpose of such designed schemes can be to alleviate water shortages in the receiving basin, for irrigation and drinking water purpose. KC Canal has made it possible to utilize the water resources uniformly and economically to yield significant output in drought areas Kurnool and Kadapa districts.  Further, it has aided in enhancement in Irrigation potential, and food grain production and thereby achieving socio-economic development in the region.

Tran basin transfer by KC canal proved to be socially needed, technically feasible, economically viable and environmentally sustainable. It holds immense potential to unite the people through an emphasis on integration, interdependence, and avoidance of fissiparous tendencies. A great boost in growth and development has been witnessed. Its indirect, incidental, multiplier and triggering effects on the benefits stream at macro level envisaged will be substantial.

Experimenting with Commercial Irrigation Development in Colonial India: The Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal

The peculiarity of the design using natural streams as a means of the conveyance system

The first peculiarity of the KC Canal is its location, or more precisely the choice to construct a canal that diverts water from the Tungabhadra River to take it into the Pennar Basin (the KC Canal enters a sub-basin and flows alongside the Galeru and Kundu rivers, tributaries of the Pennar). This choice was informed by the navigation objective and suggests that this was a dominant argument in choosing the location and main canal alignment of the system. A canal for irrigation could also have been built (and had been envisaged) in the neighbouring Bellary District, where more land was available also.  Sir Arthur Cotton was indeed envisaging connecting India from north to south by waterways, an idea that has remained part of the imagination of engineers and policymakers till today.

Taking the water over the watershed to a new basin meant that the canal was effectively a source of additional water at the top of a basin. This is unusual as a diversion from rivers for large-scale irrigation schemes is usually done at downstream parts of the river, leaving the hydrology of the upper catchment untouched. The valley of the Galeru and Kundu rivers is also narrow, making the KC Canal Irrigation Scheme a long and narrow scheme. It can be seen that the curvy canal touches and crosses the local rivers several times. A peculiarity of the design is that the river system is used as part of the conveyance system, not only at the main canal level drawn on the map but also at lower canal levels not drawn on the map, where local natural drainage streams are integrated into a water conveyance. The exact considerations for this integration of canal and river, and irrigation and drainage functions can only be speculated about, as there is, to our knowledge, no detailed record of them. Cost reduction is a likely reason, particularly given the financial strain the MICC very quickly found itself experiencing. The design discharge for a canal reaches between two 'pick up' points where the canal touched or crossed the river was calculated based on only the area to be irrigated in that reach. Water for lower reaches moved through the river, to be diverted into the canal at the next 'pick up' point. This saved on canal size and thus constriction costs. Another possible reason is that it is a translation of how canals were constructed in the delta areas shortly before – as extensions of natural streams to a large extent. An effect is that the water use efficiency at scheme level is likely to be high – water 'lost' in drainage canals remains within the system.  An important managerial implication is that the KC Canal is effectively compartmentalised. The irrigation water entering the sub-basin at the top does not have to pass through the whole irrigated area to reach the lower, downstream part of the irrigation scheme. Irrigation water is conveyed through the river bypassing irrigated areas from the Lockin Sula diversion indicated on the map. This allows a level of managerial flexibility. To the best of our knowledge, the KC Canal is the only system in India constructed in this manner. The concept, if it was that, has not been repeated. Rather than a conscious concept, the peculiar design may have been the unintended consequence of a series of other considerations and conditions: the navigation imperative, cost reduction, and the narrowness of the valley.

Present State of Conservation

K.C. Canal modernisation project with a cost of Rs. 1107.00 crore was taken up with the loan assistance from Japanese Bank of International Co-operation (JBIC), Japan with the objective of stabilisation of existing ayacut of 2.65 lakh acres in Kurnool and Kadapa districts by rehabilitation, improvements and modernisation of existing 130-year-old irrigation system. In the recent 'modernisation' of the KC Canal scheme (started 1994, completed 2012) repairs of structures and canal lining have been implemented, considerably reducing losses and enhancing the actual discharge capacity of the canals.

Furthermore, the construction of the parallel Srisailam RBC to the west of the KC Canal and the Telugu Ganga Canal project on the east side in the same valley produces 'regenerated water' (drainage losses) that flow into the river, and can be picked up for KC Canal irrigation. The inefficiencies of these newly constructed canals thus, provide additional water to the old, now modernised, canal. The 'pick up' system has been maintained in modernisation, which has been limited to repairs of weirs and other structures and upgrading of canals through the lining. The engineering discourse on modernisation is about water losses and savings and technical quality and efficiency. In management terms, the system is treated as any other large-scale irrigation system (as regards establishment and functioning of WUAs, and 'pushing water to the tail' for instance), with no apparent reflection on the special possibilities of the system. It can be viewed that the KC Canal system where 'integrated water resources management' is more in-built technically.

HIGHLIGHTS

Country: India

Province: Andhra Pradesh

Latitude : 15.882 Longitude : 77.829

Built: 1863-1871

River: Tungabhadra river

Sub-Basin: Krishna basin

Irrigated Area: 107495.84 Ha

RECOGNIZED AT:

71st IEC Meeting (Virtual), New Delhi, India, 2020

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