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Introduction: Bangladesh is a riverine country. About 700 rivers including tributaries

flow through the country constituting a waterway of total length around 24,140 kilometres

(15,000 mi). Most of the country's land is formed through silt brought by the rivers. This low-

lying, riverine country is located in South Asia with a largely marshy jungle coastline of 710 km

(441 mi) on the northern littoral of the Bay of Bengal. Formed by a delta plain at the confluence

of the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna Rivers and their tributaries,

Bangladesh’s alluvial soil is highly fertile. These rivers play a huge role in the existence and

development of our country. Many of the projects of this country, small and big have been taken

centering the rivers. Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) created in 1959 is the

pioneering organization entrusted with the task of planning and implementing various water

resources projects in the country. The Ganges-Kobadak (G.K) Irrigation Project as conceived

in the early fifties was the first major step in Bangladesh to provide supplemental irrigation to

traditional rice varieties. It is the largest lift-cum-gravity irrigation system in the country.

Description: The first plan, the Ganges-Kobadak Irrigation Project was to comprise an

area of 700,000 (hectares) ha irrigated from the Ganges River. One of the main canals in the

Jessore Unit would follow the Kobadak River, which contributed to the name of the project.

Ganges-Kobadak Irrigation Project a large surface irrigation system of the country set up by the

bangladesh water development board (BWDB) on the right bank of the ganges. The project,

better known as (G-K Project) covers an area of 197,500 ha, of which 142,000 ha are net

irrigable, and are under the jurisdiction of Kushtia, Chuadanga, Jhenaidaha and Magura districts.

A total of 13 upazilas of these 4 districts are covered by the project-Kushtia Sadar, Kumarkhali,

Khoksa, Mirpur, Bheramara, Chuadanga, Alamdanga, Jhenaidaha, Harinakunda, Shailkupa,

north, The gorai-madhumati on the east, the nabaganga on the south, and the Mathabhanga on

Magura Sadar, Sreepur and Daulatpur. The river Ganges and Gorai bound the project area on the

the west.

Initial survey to set up the project was conducted in 1951, but the Government of Pakistan

approved the project proposal in 1954. Implementation of the project started during the fiscal

year 1954-55. In 1962-63, some local varieties of rice were cultivated under this irrigation

project for the first time. At that time HYV (high yield variety) rice was not available in the area.

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Afterwards, cultivation of HYV rice became popular among the farmers, especially HYV aush

and HYV aman in Kharif-I (March to June) and Kharif-II (mid-July to November) respectively.

The project was planned and designed for supplementary irrigation alone, but it is currently

being utilised to irrigate an additional HYV aus crop that has a higher water demand. Till 1999,

the maximum achievement of irrigation reached 43,000 ha in the aman (Kharif-II) season, while

99,000 ha were irrigated during the aus (Kharif-I) season.

The whole project is divided into two units, the Kushtia Unit and the Jessore Unit. The Kushtia

unit is in two parts, Phase-I and Phase-II. Phase-I has a command area of 85,020 ha, of which

48,700 ha are irrigable. Phase-II has a command area of 117,814 ha, of which 93,300 ha are

irrigable. The system has a total irrigable area of 142,000 ha.

A typical monsoon climate prevails in the project area. Average annual rainfall is about 1,600

mm, about 70 percent occurs during mid-June through mid-October. Rice is the dominant crop

occupying about 70 percent of the total cropped area. Pulses, oil seeds, jute, sugarcane, tobacco

and wheat are the other important crops.

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In the GK system, water is pumped from the river Ganges and distributed to the field by gravity.

The project has two pump houses with pumps having various capacities. Three main pumps with

a designed capacity of 37 cumec each, and 12 subsidiary pumps with a capacity of 3.5 cumec

each are used for pumping water from the river to the main canal. The total lifting capacity of

these 15 pumps is 153 cumec. There are two main canals - the Kushtia Canal and the Ganges

Canal. The service area of the Kushtia Canal, which started functioning in 1969-70, is called

Phase-I. The service area of the Ganges Canal, functioning since 1982-83, is called Phase-II.

The project has 1,655 km long canals for distributing water. The total length of the main canals

is 193 km, of secondary canals 467 km, (total number 17) and of tertiary canals 995 km (total

number 154). There are field channels with a total length of 2,770.70 km (total number 1,772).

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The G-K Project is also aimed at improving the overall drainage system of the area and there are

971-km long drainage canals for the purpose.

The project has constructed 228-km long inspection roads which serve the project as well as the

people in the area. Bridges and culverts have been constructed over different canals - 1,268 on

irrigation canals, 653 on field channels and 253 on drainage canals. A total of 39 km dam has

been constructed to keep the project area flood free. A total number of 1,402 personnel are

engaged in this project of whom 57 are officers and technical experts while the other 1,345 are

supporting and field staff.

During periods of low flow in the Ganges, the pumps deliver some 122 cumec, only 68% of the

designed discharge of 180 cumec. In recent years, farmers in the area have turned to tubewells to

augment supplies, although they revert to surface water whenever it is available.

The irrigation system is generally energised in mid-February and is shut down in mid-November.

The system remains inoperative during the winter for annual maintenance.

Objectives: The G-K Project represents an irrigation system in which water is lifted from the

Ganges river by pumps and is distributed by gravity canals. Flood control and improvement of

drainage are minor components of the system. The objectives were to increase food production,

improve cropping patterns, and improve the socioeconomic conditions of the farmers. Other

objectives were to increase food production and water flow, increase cropping intensity, HYV

aush and HYV aman in Kharif-I (March to June) and Kharif-II (mid-July to November) through

its long canals for distributing water. The project is also aimed at improving the overall drainage

system of the area with 971-km long drainage canals and has constructed 228-km long inspection

roads, 39 km dam, numerous ridges and culverts to keep the area flood free.

Kovadak river and Ganges River: Kobadak River the pre-Dravidian term

'Kabadak' was transformed into 'Kapotaksha' [Kapotaksa] (meaning the 'pigeon-eyed') in

Sanskrit. The Kobadak originated from the Mathabhanga River with a great meander. The river

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was about to die, but the bangladesh water development board maintains a flow from the Ganges

by pumping, providing irrigation to its buffer area in the ganges-kobadak irrigation project

(G-K Project). One of the main canals in the Jessore Unit would follow the Kobadak River and

that is why Kobadak is part of the project name.

Ganges River is one of the largest river systems of the world and an important river flowing

through India and Bangladesh. The entire course of the Ganges inside Bangladesh is popularly

called the Padma. During the Partition of India in 1947, Kushtia was made a separate district,

consisting of Kushtia Sôdor, Chuadanga and Meherpur subdivisions. The town once again

became attractive for development in 1954 with the establishment of the Ganges-Kobadak

Project (also known as G-K Project) headquarters and a number of government offices.

PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND SYSTEM OF OPERATION: The Ganges-Kobadak

Irrigation Project is operated and maintained by the Bangladesh Water Development Board

(BWDB). Under BWDB, organization of the G.K. Project has a straight forward structure, where

a Superintending Engineer (Project Director) is the head of the Project with Executive Engineers

in charge of the Divisions. Divisions are responsible for construction and O&M in the field. For

agricultural development activities, an extension unit has been established. The extension staff is

primarily responsible for the agricultural extension, water management at the field channel level,

and for guidance of the water management association. The extension staff works under the

administrative control of the Project Director and under the technical control of the Chief Water

Management of BWDB.

Nomenclature of the Project Irrigation System: Water from the

river is pumped into the main canals. From the main canals water runs into secondary canals and

from secondary canals into tertiary canals from where farmers get water into their land through

field channels and plot channels. Command area of a tertiary canal is called a tertiary unit, which

receives water from a tertiary offtake. A tertiary unit is subdivided into quaternary units called

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chaks, which vary in size from 25 to 40 ha. A chak receives water from a quaternary channel

called field channel through an outlet.

Benefits: Using the G-K Project's irrigation facility, farmers are producing about 0.3 million

tons of excess crops every year which is valued at about Tk 2,400 million. Simultaneous with the

Expansion of the irrigation areas, adoption of high-yielding rice varieties became widespread.

There were few sub projects conducted centering G-K project that helped the overall waer

management. The improved levels of water management and pumping efficiency have reduced

the cost of pumping by nearly half in real terms. This is a remarkable achievement. The recurrent

costs for maintaining the primary and secondary canals and their structures have also been

reduced by the improvements effected under the Project. The Project design was not gender-

specific as it was intended to provide benefits for the population in general. The numerous Food

for Work Program activities under the Project were carried out by a large number of poor

women. The overall crop production has improved with the help of the irrigation process and this

project has shown other irrigation processes how it is done.

Problems: Like other irrigation projects in Bangladesh, performance of this project is much

below the potential level. Inadequate funding for the proper maintenance led to gradual

deterioration of the physical infrastructure. In addition, problems such as lack of practical

guidelines for main system operation, lack of measuring devices for water distribution and

allocation, lack of control at the main system level and excessive use of water by farmers in

locations with easy access to water lead to poor performance level.

The project has suffered from problems both at the implementation and operational stages. Water

use has been considerably higher than anticipated and this has led to reluctance to develop the

full irrigable area. Operations to extract water from the Ganges are made difficult because dry-

season water levels are significantly below the level for which the pumps were designed and up

to one million cubic metres of slit has to be dredged annually from the canal leading from the

Ganges to the pump house. Rehabilitation work to increase the capacity of the water delivery

system was initiated in 1984 and completed in 1993.

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Inadequate system management and on-farm water management practices have resulted in illegal

diversion of water by cutting irrigation canal embankment at the head reaches. The absence of

adequate field channels and plot channels lead to the practice of plot-to-plot irrigation where a

plot is flooded completely in order to reach an adjacent plot. This practice results in wastage of

vast amount of water that is spilled into the drains and percolating into ground.

Earlier on several occasions, the project failed to ensure smooth water supply due to fall in the

water level of Padma River. Uninterrupted supply will be maintained if water is available in the

Padma and it depends on discharge of water at Farakka in the upstream, project officials said.

The Ganges-Kobadak irrigation project suffered such a setback that its pumping capacity had

reduced over 60% in the early nineties due to heavy diversification of water from river Ganges.

The quantity of water sees decline every year due to withdrawal of Ganges water at Farakka

point in the upstream, said a high official of Water Development Board (WDB) in Kushtia.

The GK project had totally failed to supply water during 1992-1996 due to low flow in the

Padma. The project became operational again after signing of the water sharing treaty with India

in 1996. Diversions from the country’s major rivers, as practised in the Ganges-Kobadak

irrigation project, are technically difficult and very costly because of problems of unstable river

banks and annual siltation of intake canals. Experience to date has also shown that farmers are

unwilling to contribute meaningfully to irrigation costs (Brammer, 2004). In addition, further

withdrawals of water from the rivers would have adverse environmental impacts downstream by

allowing salt water to penetrate further inland in coastal districts, a situation aggravated by the

uncertainties regarding Ganges water flow in future decades.

REHABILITATION PROGRAM: Rehabilitation of the irrigation system started in 1985 and

has been directed at remedying the identified problems through-

- Improving hydraulic condition at the entrance and within the intake channel to the pumping

plant;

- Improving adequacy and dependability of power supply;

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- Rehabilitation of pumping plants to their original design capacity;

- Rehabilitating major existing infrastructure;

- Rehabilitation and improving tertiary and field channel network;

- Strengthening of farmer organizations and agricultural support services;

- Improving arrangement for sustained operation and maintenance of the system.

As a supplement to the ADB loan for the rehabilitation and improvement of the existing Ganges-

Kobadak Irrigation system, UNDP granted a technical assistance in 1985 to provide back

stopping support for consulting services in detailed design, construction supervision; training of

BWDB staff in system management, O&M and organization and training of water user groups.

Joint evaluation of the technical evaluation was undertaken in April 1987. It was found that

rehabilitation is more concentrated on physical rehabilitation with insufficient regard for other

factors responsible for the need to rehabilitate this scheme like poor management, operation and

maintenance and inadequate on-farm water management practices. In addition to the physical

rehabilitation of the irrigation system, attention should be directed at strengthening the capacities

of G-K project staff and farmers for the subsequent management, operation and maintenance of

the rehabilitated system.

Second Phase of the Rehabilitation Program: The implementation of second technical

assistance started in May 1991 and was planned for a duration of 30 months. It was

funded/financed through a UNDP grant and equity of the Government of Bangladesh. The

objectives of this technical assistance were:

- Development of the tertiary units and the formation of Water Users Associations, comprising

groups of farmers which would be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the tertiary

canals and for cost recovery;

- Training of all levels of project staff and farmer groups on operation and maintenance of

various aspects of the project; and Direct support of water management unit (WMU) to be

established within the project organization which would be responsible for water distribution,

planning and operation through the introduction of a computer-based scheduling model.

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The essence of the technical Assistance design was to provide the G-K project staff with the

necessary training, experience and facilities to make major changes in the project functions,

transforming it from an organization with a central responsibility for operation and maintenance

to a participant organization responsible for main system control and the supply of water to

independent agricultural enterprises.

Organization of Water User Associations: During the rehabilitation

period that ended in June 1993, 324 Water User Associations (WUAs) were formed. These water

user associations participated in the remodeling of tertiary canals. To improve water distribution

below the outlet, water user associations constructed field and plot channels in locations agreed

upon by G.K staff and the farmer beneficiaries.

Training of G-K Staff and Water Users: A training program ranging from the

fundamental principles of water management to a more advanced water management was

designed, implemented and participated by selected personnel from the field staff to the senior

management. Practical training for members of the WUAs, regarding leadership and financial

management to prepare them for the full management of tertiary level facilities and manage their

association not only for O&M but for a more responsive production economic oriented group.

Water Management in the System: A unit called Water Management Unit

responsible for main system operation was established within the G-K project organization. To

help this unit, the consultant of the project developed a software to develop a central database for

storage and analysis of system operation information. In addition to the storage and processing of

basic operation data, the software calculates crop water requirements, determine target discharge

control structures making use of feedback on actual field conditions. The software is capable of

providing target discharges and reports for actions by gate keepers and system operators.

Procedures for monitoring, control and assessment of the operations of the main system as well

as development of operating guidelines and communication links were also developed.

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Sub Projects: GK (Ganges-Kobadak) project started supplying irrigation water for Irri-

Boro cultivation in five southwestern districts. Saha Alam, chief of Water Resource Wing of

Planning Commission inaugurated the supply activity on Friday afternoon. Among others,

Supervising Engineer of GK Obaidur Rahman, Executive Engineer Md. Abdus Sattar and other

high officials were present. The project will cover 1.16 lakh hectares of land in the five south-

western districts with a target to produce 3.89 lakh tonnes of paddy in the current season, sources

said. The districts are Kushtia, Faridpur, Jhenidah, Magura and Chuadanga.

During the rehabilitation program, an experiment on canal rotation program was conducted by

the IIMI-IRRI-BRRI research group with the active involvement of the farmers and G.Kproject

officials during 1989–90.

Conclusions: The Ganges-Kobadak irrigation project is the largest surface water irrigation

scheme in Bangladesh. The project generally achieved its objective although it had many

difficulties along the way. There were positive and negative experiences gained during

rehabilitation of the system. The negative experiences were as a result of unenlightened water

users, and inadequate maintenance planning. But these are not insurmountable ones as solutions

to these problems developed overtime. At least with these experiences, the span of the

rehabilitation, operation, deterioration and rehabilitation cycle in irrigation development could be

lengthened. Attempt was made to institutionalize the lessons learnt within the G-K Project to

improve and build upon the sustainability of the system. Although the future looks bright with

the rehabilitation program of the G-K Project, there is no room for complacency. Improvement

of the management skills are still required for sustainable operation, maintenance and a bright

future of the project.

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