The Barind region of Bangladesh was
once the driest part of Rajshahi division, one of the seven administrative
divisions of the country.
Farmers in the region found it hard to grow even one
crop. But it now produces three crops a year.
The turnaround has happened
because of the unique irrigation system developed for the region. It comprises
a network of underground pipelines developed by the Barind Multipurpose
Development Authority (BMDA), an independent autonomous body established in
1985 under Bangladesh's ministry of agriculture for developing agriculture in
the region.
- The Barind tract, covers greater Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Pabha, Joypurhat, Bogra and Naogaon districts of Rajshahi division of Bangladesh and Malda district of West Bengal in India.
- It is covered by hard red soil and old alluvial deposits, good for paddy cultivation.
- But low water availability made farming a hard proposition.
There are about 40-45 rivers in the
Barind region, but most of them dry up during the lean season. Absence of
surface water meant that people in Barind relied heavily on groundwater and
were able to grow only one crop during the monsoon season. For the rest of the
months, the whole area used to face severe drought. Mud cracks in farms ran as
deep as 15 metres.
Until the formation of BMDA this region
was mainly irrigated through shallow tube wells. A few private deep tube wells
were available but buying water from these was very expensive for the farmers.
It used to cost 3,000 to 3,500 taka (approx. INR 2,400 to 2,800) to irrigate
one bigha (approximately 0.13 hectare).
Before 1985, the potential for the
agricultural development in Barind was considered nil and area was considered
not suitable for development. Today, agriculture is the main occupation in the
region and 81 per cent of people in Barind are farmers, all thanks to BMDA's
financially self-sustaining underground pipe irrigation system.
Water for irrigation is sourced from
deep tub wells and distributed through underground PVC pipe system to
individual fields. It was not just technical innovation. It gives access to water
to all the farmers to irrigate their fields.
How the irrigation system works
- The system operates in two ways: through a coupon system and through prepaid meters.
- The tube wells are operated on hourly basis.
- Farmers buy coupons from the BMDA office or dealers appointed by BMDA who get a commission of five per cent from BMDA.
- There is an operator for each pump station.
- When a farmer wants water in his field, he contacts the pump station and places his demand before the operator.
- The operator then opens the valve connecting to the field and switches on the motor for the requested time.
- The operator collects the correct number of coupons of calculated values from the farmer.
The operators are appointed on a yearly
basis from the local community and paid by BMDA on hourly basis of total time
of pump operation over a year. The operator is paid 12 taka (about INR 10) per
hour and is able to earn 30,000 to 40,000 taka (INR 24,000 to 32,000) per year,
which is a good extra income for a household. There are two types of tubewells
with flow rates of 3,360 lpm (litres per minute) and 1,702.2 lpm. The water is
sold at the rate of 115 taka (INR 90) for one hour supply from the tubewells
with flow rates of 3,360 lpm and, 100 taka (INR 80) from the tubewells with
flow rates of 1,702.2 lpm.
- In the prepaid metering system, every farmer gets a user card which is embedded with his photo, name and a user number, provided by BMDA.
- The farmer is able to top up his user card with an amount of his choice from the local BMDA office or from a dealer.
- When a farmer needs to irrigate his field, he goes to the respective pump house and inserts his card in the meter slot and selects the amount of water required.
- The meter starts automatically and the money is deducted from the card.
- Compared to the old irrigation system, it takes only 600 to 800 taka (INR 480 to INR 640) to irrigate one bigha of land, much lower than what private tube well owners used to charge.
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The whole system is well-monitored.
After each day or two, BMDA officials collect the coupons from the operators or
check the prepaid meters to take the information of pump usage. To cross check
the usage hours, electricity meter readings are also registered.
- The money earned by BMDA is used to maintain existing pumps and to expand the system to other areas.
- The Commercial Auditor General (CAG) audits BMDA every year. As per CAG auditing, BMDA is earning surplus amount to operate the whole irrigation system.
- Kasem who completed his doctorate research on the project—Economics of Prepaid Irrigation System-BMDA Perspective—says BMDA irrigation system is self sustaining. BMDA has not taken any money from the ministry of agriculture to maintain and expand their irrigation system further, says Kasem.
- At present, there are 14,000 deep tube wells under BMDA covering 600,000 hectares of Barind tract; 450,000 hectares remains to be covered under this initiative of BMDA.
