AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

IRRIGATION

Out of the total gross cropped area of 538,500 acres, only 5,200 acres were under irrigation in 1955-56 of which food crops occupied 3,100 acres and non-food crops accounted for 2,100 acres. Of the total area under irrigated food-crops, almost one-fourth was occupied by chillies and sugar crops. The chilli crop accounted for 600 acres and the sugarcane crop for 100 acres.. The remaining 2,400 acres under irrigation were occupied by the remaining food-crops. The irrigated area under coconut classified as a non-food crop during the same year, was 1,500 acres, while that under other non-food crops was 600 acres. The chief source of irrigation was the well which helped to bring under irrigation 4,000 acres or 77 per cent of the total irrigated area in 1955-56. Reservoirs brought 1,100 acres and canals 100 acres under irrigation, during the same year. The following table gives the number of the various sources of water-supply in 1958-59:―

TABLE No. 78

NUMBER OF SOURCES OF WATER-SUPPLY (1958-59)

Canals.

There were no major or minor irrigation canals twenty years back. The waste or tail water of the three hydro-electric power houses at Bhivpuri, Khopoli and Bhira is released in the Ulhas, Patalganga and Kundalika rivers, respectively, each receiving about six hundred cusecs of water. However, it was only after 1947 that the tail water was put to use for irrigation purposes. Despite good rainfall, the district suffers from scarcity of drinking water at a number of places due to the presence of trap rock throughout. Irrigation facilities are restricted to the area in the vicinity of the three rivers. The cultivators at Khopoli, Pen, Panvel and Khalapur are found to take seasonal vegetables over an area of about 800 acres.

Wells.

  The wells used for irrigation are generally circular, eight to ten feet in diameter and twenty to fifty feet deep. The wells are sometimes pitched with brick or stone and mortar, more usually lined with dry cut stones on which the water lift or mot is worked. The water is lifted by a mot. The leather mot may be either ten feet from mouth to mouth and worked in shallow wells. It is more common and prepared usually by the village cobbler. A mot worked by a pair of bullocks can be used for irrigating two or three acres of land. Recently, pumps for lifting water by means of oil engines are being used increasingly. The following table shows the distribution of oil engines in the district, in 1958-59: —

TABLE No. 79

NUMBER OF OIL ENGINES IN KOLABA (1958-59).

Bandharas.

Another source of irrigation in the district is the bandharas which are small weirs built across streams in order that the level of water flowing in the stream may be raised sufficiently to command the lands to be irrigated. The water is taken to the fields by gravitational flow and, when the water in the dam falls below the level of the channel, the water has to be lifted either by pumps or by wooden shovels hung by a rope from a tripod of sticks. The bandharas are maintained by the Revenue Department and water rates are charged according to the quantity of water supplied. The following table gives the location of the bandharas and the area irrigated by them in 1959-60: —

TABLE No. 80

 AREA IRRIGATED BY BANDHARAS (1959-60)

The Mutholi bandhara is situated on the Mahisdara nallah, a branch of the Kundalika river near Mutholi village in Roha taluka. The tail race water of the Bhira Power House let down in the Kundalika river enters the Mahisdara nallah near Puri village and, after flowing along the nallah, joins the Kundalika river again near Palshad village

Mutholi Bandhara.

The site is accessible in the fair weather by a kaccha road which takes off from the Bombay-Konkan-Goa road near Pugaon village. The bandhara is of stone masonry, 187 feet long with eighteen openings. It has two canals and one distributary. Of the former, one is situated on the right bank with a distributary and the other is situated on the left bank. The right bank canal is 19,200 feet long with a capacity of 23 cusecs. The distributary which is only a take off from the right bank canal is 8,900 feet long with a capacity of 12.5 cusecs. The left bank canal is 5,750 feet long with a capacity of two cusecs. The bandhara serves a part of Roha taluka comprising the villages like Gove, Muthavali, Shiravali, Talavali, Nudavali, Chilhe, Deyakane and Dhanakane. The construction of the bandhara was taken in hand in 1950 and completed in 1955 at a total cost of Rs. 2,31,610. It commands an area of 750 acres. Paddy and vegetables are the two main crops irrigated in summer and rates charged for the same are four rupees for paddy and five rupees for vegetables per acre of cultivation.

Vasrang Bandhara.

The Vasrang bandhara is situated on the Patalganga river near Vasrang village in Khalapur Peta on a tail race water of the Khopoli Power House. The site is accessible by a road which takes off about six furlongs from the Bombay Poona Road. The bandhara is 270 feet long with one opening of 3' x ½'. It is built of stone masonry with two walls. The irrigation wall runs on the right bank to a length of 16,800 feet before it meets the parent river. The bandhara has a capacity of seven cusecs and commands an area of 350 acres. It serves a part of Khalapur Peta comprising places such as Avas, Mulgaon, Chinchavali, Shekin Shedvali and Hal Budruk among others. Its bed is three feet wide at the beginning and one and a half feet deep. The construction of the bandhara was taken in hand in 1948 and completed in 1951 at a total cost of Rs. 87,640. Paddy and vegetables are the two main crops irrigated in the summer and the rates charged for the same are four rupees for paddy and five rupees for vegetables per acre of cultivation.

Kalundra Bandhara,

The Kalundra bandhara is situated on the Gareshwari river near the panvel town just behind the Inspection Bungalow of the Public Works Department. It has its site at the Bhingari village in Panvel taluka. It is 530 feet long and built of a masonry with a top width of four feet and fifteen openings of 3'x 4½ each. The bandhara was completed and has been handed over to the Block Development Officer, Panvel, in April. 1960. It commanded an area of 340 acres and only vegetables are irrigated in the summer by lift irrigation.

The following table gives relevant details of minor irrigation works in the district, in 1959-60: —

TABLE No. 81

TABLE DETAILS OF MAJOR, MEDIUM AND MINOR IRRIGATION WORKS

(BANDHARAS) COMPLETED OR IN PROGRESS IN KOLABA DIVISION (1959-60)

TABLE No. 81 contd.

TABLE No. 81-contd.

DETAILS OF MAJOR, MEDIUM AND MINOR IRRIGATION WORKS (BANDHARAS) COMPLETED OR IN PROGRESS IN KOLABA DIVISION (1959-60)

TABLE No. 81-contd.

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