Sanjay Belsare - Executive Engineer , Palkhed Irrigation Division, Water Resources Department (WRD)

Maharashtra has long tradition of farmers’ participation in irrigation management in the form of Phad systems and Malgujari tanks. In the nineties, the first Co-operative Water Users Association (WUA) was established in the Mula Irrigation Project. With its success, Government of Maharashtra (GoM) has been promoting PIM in the State. WUA are responsible for the operation, maintenance and management of the area and receives the prescribed water quota in the form of bulk volumetric supply along with the freedom to grow crops of their choice. Over last 10-15 years, there was appreciable growth in WUAs. There are number of success stories, underlining the importance of WUAs. On the other hand, there are also some instances of no appreciable improvement in performance of irrigation projects with WUAs. To evaluate the actual performance of WUAs a study was conducted, which covers WUAs from various parts of the State. The paper discusses the outcome of this study, reasons for good or poor performance, difficulties in functioning, area which needs attention, challenges in up-scaling etc and steps taken by GOM to solve the difficulties in progress of PIM. The paper also discusses future course of action to strengthen PIM initiatives in the State.