'REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1914-1915' [‎220r] (109/150)

1914-1915-]
IRRIGATION.
Chapter IV.
PRODUCTION
AND,
DISTRIBUTION,
^ T"' 1 ^ nd ? n ‘ to the excavation of
a very successtu .levy mouth in 1912-13. Complaints of deficiency do occur, but these are
from zam.ndars holding lands on lengthy channels taking off from the cankl between the
is^under^consideration.' h ‘ S ^ m6t the ^a new branch,“which
, Th ® first branch , of t Ms , nature - callecl Choi, is now nearing completion Others will be
made ; their purpose ,s to take water from the main canal at comparatively few points and
by suitable alignment reduce the length of the smaller channels or distributaries This
important item of remodelling and the reduction in the size of sluices referred to in la t
dls^rfbutKin* or]he C beiiefi^ l^f irri^ticm. Water *" 0 a ^ rea i el * ‘distance, and effect a more el:,!
A breach occurred in the right bank of the Begari Canal at mile 5/4 between the old and
new head regulators Also the lower part of the canal ran some risk from the run-off of the
hill torrents, which breached the tail branches called the Idanwah and Sirwah in places but
there was no serious interruption of supply. 1 ’
a rJv'salt 11 /efoV 5 " "“I" 1 T 13 ’ T ‘‘.T ° f 11,6 IllduS ' " 0rth ° f R°hri. It received Mahiwah.
a ve y satisfactory supply of water throughout the season. The Mahiwah will not be
completed until the Mirkosh branch is constructed. Revised plans and estimates for it are
under preparation.
: e™ 5 ; S “ th f e ri f ht bank north of Sukkur, and flows for a longer time than most canals S„kk„rCa„a,.
,! 1 e‘L l o heads, of which the Rahuja is the higher and better, and is situated due
north of Sukkur. When the river abandons this, as it did in August, the old one near the
Sukkur bridge has to be resorted to. The canal carried water till 20th of March 1915.
Though classified under minor works, the Ghar is the largest canal on the right bank Ghar Canal.
0 t ie ^ n(lus - ^ ungates over 350,000 acres, and its efficiency is secured by the possession
of several mouths or feeders. Of these, the Fordwah, as usual, gave a very good supply An
additional cut, 5,800 feet long, called the 1913-14 feeder, was made from the river, and this
also proved a success. x\s a protection against silting in the bed of the canal, and the
consequent scouring of the sides, groynes were constructed and proved effective.
This is in the extreme south of Sind and on the left bank of the Indus. It is a small and Sattah Canal,
uselul canal, which does not yet reach its full area of cultivation owing to wastage of water
in the upper reaches. The size of the sluices in the first 12 miles will be gradually reduced
to remedy this defect. • J
(ii) Works for which only Revenue Accounts are kept.
The principal canals under this head are the Sind, to the north of Sukkur, the Western
iNara, south of Larkana, and Pinyan, Kalri and Baghar, south of Jherruck. Of these the
finyan is the only one on the left bank of the Indus.
The old channel named after Colonel Fife was re-opened on 1 5 th July as a new mouth Smd Ctht!
1 he new head regulator over this channel at the Adurtakio loop of 1912 was completed; the
result has been most satisfactory and most of the lands hitherto irrigated by lift Were
brought under flow water. J
This system irrigates an area nearly as large as the Ghar Canal, viz., 350,000 acres. Western Nam.
In addition 10 the usual supply at its head the Western Nara receives water at the q^th mile
rom the Pntchardwah, and lor this feeder in turn it was this year found necessary to make
a new cut from the river near Channa village. The cut is 5 miles long, and crosses the now
ineffective cut of 1912 near its tail. It is in soft material and had to be protected from
scour by groynes ; the whole cost was Rs. 1,34,000 and the cut has proved a great success.
Between the 70th and 80th mile of the canal there is a narrow portion with low banks
throttling the discharge. Two serious breaches occurred in Mehar Sub-division which took
5 days and 10 days respectively to close, but in spite of the regulation of supply, which in
consequence of the danger of breaching was imperative, the cultivation was excellent.
Besides the required improvements indicated last year but not yet carried out, viz., a
new feeder, cutting off bends and improvements to branch channels, it is important to arrange
for the diversion of the Gaj Nai, a hill torrent, which comes down in sudden huge spates,
causing damage in the Kakar and Johi talukas.
Phis important canal, 67 miles in length and irrigating 100,000 acres, is the chief Piny^ri Canal,
source of supply of the Shah Bunder Sub-division of the Karachi District on the left bank
of the Indus. I he canal with all its branches has worked very satisfactorily and produced
excellent crops.
the Kalri Canal takes off from the river on the right bank near Luka and runs south- Kalri Canal,
west through Tatta Taluka and into Mirpur Sakro Taluka.
Until the occurrence of the breach in the Panah-Baghar bund in July the cultivation in
the above talukas was in a flourishing condition. The improvements required for this small
canal are still under consideration.
This is the southernmost canal on the right bank. It was originally a mouth of the Baghar Canal.
Indus, and is a large straggling untidy channel with no head regulator, so that when the
nver is in high flood the canal banks are in danger of breaching. The past year proved
H 1314—19