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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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References:
http://ruchichowdhury.tripod.com/sharing_common_river_waters.htm
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/espim/country/bangladesh/index.stm
https://books.google.com.bd/books
http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ganges-Kobadak_Irrigation_Project
https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/37770
https://www.google.com.bd/search?q=ganges+kobadak+irrigation+project&newwindow
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0309586X79900268
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges_Barrage_Project
http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/G_0025.htm
http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/writings/bangladesh/farakka/8_ganges.htm
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_Agricultural_extension_Ganges-Kobadak_project_Kushtia_unit_phase_i
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assistance-to-the-technical-development-of-the-kushtia-unit-of-the-ganges-kobadak-
irrigation-project-in-east-pakistan/oclc/32867350
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ct_Impact_of_Rotational_Irrigation_Practice
http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?lang=en&page=4&q=Ganges&qid=3f101e79-
c103-4196-a75e-2ead9a06ad89&searchfrom=header&sort=relevance
http://www.slideshare.net/CPWF/future-projection-of-surface-water-resources-of-the-
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http://www.bpedia.org/G_0026.php
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http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/G_0025.htm
http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/writings/bangladesh/farakka/default.htm
Irrigation Management Issues in Bangladesh:
Experiences and Lessons from Ganges-Kobadak
Irrigation System (M. Noajesh Ali)
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139386277911_GW Recharge GK
Environmental and Social Impact of Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
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Eric Biltonen, editors)
Inheritance of Recovery from Submergence in a 5 x 5 Diallel
Analysis in Rice
M S Pathan, N M Miah, M E Haque, H C Sarkar, R K Das and M Hoque