Technical Examination of Rehabilitation and
Modernization Works of Irrigation, Drainage,
Water Conservation Structure and Building
Construction in UPWSRP
Environmental Safeguards and operational guidelines
for
Rehabilitation works
INTERNATIONAL PTY. LTD
IN ASSOCIATION WITH SMEC (INDIA) PVT. LTD
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Environmental Safeguards and operational guidelines for
Rehabilitation works
CONTENTS
Background ..................................................................................................... 3
Broad Policy guidelines and norms ................................................................ 3
Introduction of works...................................................................................... 6
1 Distributaries & Minors ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
I. Desilting .................................................................................................... 6
II. Disposal of desilted matter ...................................................................... 8
III. Borrow Area Rehabilitation ................................................................. 12
2 Drains ......................................................................................................... 13
I. Guidelines with specific reference to drainage works............................ 13
II. Directives in IS codes for jungle clearance (During-Rehabilitation) ......... 14
Other norms for general information and awareness.................................... 15
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Environmental Safeguards and operational
guidelines for Rehabilitation works
Background
System modernization or rehabilitation is a clear avenue for enhanced irrigation performance and
is necessarily a multifunctional effort including various disciplines and issues, like: irrigation
engineering, agronomy, agricultural economics, social interactions and environmental protection.
The objectives of a modernization or rehabilitation programme can be manifold, among these, few
key objectives are – improved crop yields, improved irrigation efficiency, reduce operation and
maintenance (O&M) costs, improved recovery of O&M costs, improved financial sustainability and
reduction in conflict among project staff & water users and last but not the least, reduction of
environmental degradation.
Broad Policy guidelines and norms
The National Environment Policy, 2004 states that environmental degradation is a major causal
factor in enhancing and perpetuating poverty among the rural people, as such degradation impacts
soil fertility, quantity and quality of water, air quality, vegetation, forests, and fisheries. The
dependence of the rural people on their natural resources is self-evident. This also means that,
while planning, executing and monitoring of rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation
infrastructure, the department should have prior consultation and consensus on the modusoperandi of the works to be undertaken. This will allow smooth working and support from the local
people. It is necessary to provide due respect to villager’s concerns, so that they feel involved and
benefited from the ongoing program.
One of the key objective of the policy states that, the Human beings are at the centre of concerns
for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with
nature. The policy further points out that any developmental process should have environmental
protection as its integral part and should never be considered in isolation. This also means that, all
the rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation infrastructure activities should comply with
the guidelines and check-lists specifically designed for conservation and protection of the
environment.
Another interesting measure for protection and preservation pointed out in the Policy is the
“Polluters Pay” principle. This phenomenon directs the polluter to compensate the environmental
damages caused by his activity; it also calls for legal liability for environmental damage would deter
environmentally harmful actions, and compensate the victims of environmental damage. The
following alternative approaches to legal liability may apply:
1. Fault based liability
In a fault based liability, a party is held liable if it breaches a pre-existing legal duty, for
example, an environmental standard.
2. Strict liability
Strict liability imposes an obligation to compensate the victim for harm resulting from actions or
failure to take action, which may not necessarily constitute a breach of any law or duty of care.
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The Policy affirms that, it is preferable to prevent environmental damage from occurring in the first
place, rather than attempting to restore degraded environmental resources after the fact.
The Policy recognizes that, the wetlands, natural and manmade, freshwater or brackish and other
water-bodies provide numerous ecological and livelihood services. In terms of ecological services,
they provide habitat to aquatic flora and fauna, as well as numerous species of birds, including
migratory species, whereas the livelihood services include lotus and water chestnut cultivation.
Wetlands and water bodies are under threat from drainage and conversion for agriculture and
human settlements, besides pollution.
The Policy also stresses the necessity of stakeholder’s involvement and partnerships or in other
words participation of the ones who are getting affected, positively or negatively by such activities.
THE Citizen Charter issued by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India has laid
down following key objectives –
1. Conservation and survey of flora, fauna, forests and wildlife;
2. Prevention and control of pollution of all kinds;
3. Afforestation and regeneration of degraded areas; and
4. Protection of environment in order to promote sustainable development
The Charter also calls for judicious use of natural resources. All the guiding policies and
documents including National Water Policy and the State Water Policy which is more or less on
same lines stressed, the need for conservation and protection of natural resources including water,
land, forest cover and flora and fauna. It also states that, the executing entity and department,
while taking-up activities pertaining to construction/rehabilitation/maintenance of infrastructure
should pay due attention to the existing life style of the local people and adopt a collaborative or
participative approach. It also recognizes the vitality of local wisdom, which often provides most
appropriate and viable options.
The UP State Environment Policy, 2006 – A Milestone
The state of Uttar Pradesh has come up with a progressive State Environment Policy in the year
2006. The Section 4 of the policy discusses the objectives. Among them, the key objectives
includes –
1. To provide safe, healthy, constructive and conducive environment to the people of state.
2. Judicious and appropriate utilization and management of natural resources, including
water, land, vegetative cover etc. The concepts of participation; transparency and
responsibility should be the basic principles to achieve all this.
3. Spreading awareness in regard to sensitivity and responsibility towards the existing but
depleting resources including land and water. All this has to be done in a participative
manner at all levels.
4. Conservation and protection of valuable natural and non-renewable resources.
5. To ensure the implementation of policies, government orders and other directives for the
preservation of the environment.
In order to achieve these objectives, the Policy has laid down some principles in Section 5 of the
policy and prominent among them are as follows –
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1. Environmental norms to be implemented during economic and social development works.
2. Efforts are to be made for environmental preservation during various common
developmental activities.
3. Environmental protection is integral part of ongoing developmental activities in the state
and it can’t be considered in isolation.
The policy applauds the “Polluter-Pays” principle by stating that, environmental damage caused
during a developmental program/activity shall be the responsibility of the executing agency and in
principle; such entity should borne the extra expenditure required for the restoration of ambient
environmental-values.
The Section 7 of the policy explains the road-map for environmental management and associated
systems; it also stresses the need for –
a. Peoples-participation
b. Environmental-Audit
c. Establishing of Environment-Cell in the developmental organizations to provide institutional
support to the organization for mitigating environmental damages.
d. Dedicated budget allocation for the environmental conservation and preservation during
the execution of developmental projects/activities.
e. Evaluation of developmental projects/activities from the environment perspective.
f.
Strong inter-departmental linkages for effective coordination among various departments
to cater environmental protection.
g. Constitution of an apex body called, “State Environment Conservation Council” under the
Chief Minister of the state.
Key aspects of Environment Management Plan (EMP) of World Bank for Environmental
Safeguards
The relevant aspects of the EMP, especially for the purpose of environmental safeguards include
following key points, however it is to be noted that during the works planning and after the
execution of works, three main stages exists and major concerns and issues are classified
accordingly –
1. Mobilization and Design Stage
 Identify all key stakeholders of the Minor Basin
 Have consultative meetings on project (disseminate information on project, agree on
schedule for joint walkthroughs)
 Mobilize farmers and other stakeholders in Minor Basin
 Identify problems with the physical system
 Adopt measures to ensure distributional equity (e.g. water reaching the tail end)
 Competition over water (e.g. scarcity, pollution problems and spatial and temporal
occurrence and trends)
 Identify the Waterlogged areas, (months waterlogged with indicative sizes on maps) and
areas with drainage problems, through consultations and walkthrough
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 Public health problems relating to water (e.g. malaria, water-brome diseases, pollution,
etc.)
 Industries located in Minor basin or affecting water quality or quantity in minor basin
 Draft design of minor rehabilitation based on consultation and engineering considerations
 Finalization of design based on consultations with stakeholders
2. Rehabilitation/Modernization Process
 Include standard and any additional environmental/social clauses into Contracts
 Ensure that, the contractor consults key stakeholders before initiating work and that the
scope of work is clearly outlined
 Ensure that any desisted material is disposed of by contractor in a socially and
environmentally acceptable manner
3. Post-Rehabilitation
 Monitoring & Evaluation Process: Decide on monitoring strategy for each minor basin
 Positive Feedback: Recognition of good performance by farmers and villages (e.g. on
results of M&E benchmarking on IPM use, organic farming, environmental management,
etc) during farmer days and other events
 Determine suitability for awareness visits to illustrate successes or demonstrate pitfalls
 Assess need for and implement any follow-up studies or mitigation/enhancement
measures
Introduction of works
It is to be noted that, while taking-up the rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation
infrastructure, the executing entity i.e. the contractor and the supervising authority i.e. the
department should always give due attention to the environmental issues, so that its violation may
not lead to degradation of not only the local ambiance but also the lifestyle of the native villagers.
Such a situation may also lead to social problem leading to tough resentment from the
villagers/natives.
The Bureau of Indian Standards has issued guidelines and practicing norms, which needs to be
followed during the rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation infrastructure. These norms
will be discussed in later section of this document.
This work includes rehabilitation and modernization of canal systems and broadly consists of
rehabilitating Branch, Distributaries, Minors and Drains and construction, reconstruction and repair
of pucca works including hydro-mechanical works as per design.
The works are expected to be done during the canal’s closure period.
The guidelines for the distributaries and minors have been explained in the following three subsections i.e. desilting; disposal of desilted matter and borrow area rehabilitation.
I. Desilting
There are many aspects which need to be taken care of during desilting of distributaries and
minors. These aspects are as follows, however it is to be noted that, the classification
according to Pre-rehabilitation; During-Rehabilitation and Post-Rehabilitation has also been
done and this is indicated as bracket content in the sub-headings:
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1. Labour related problems (Pre-rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation)
It will be highly critical and important to instruct the labour that, they should take care of the
canal sides and the banks, so that they are not damaged. During desilting and disposal
this should be supervised by the departmental entity to ensure intactness of structures.
The desilting involves two key issues related to labour. As we know that desilting involves
large number of labour and keeping in view the quantum of work to be done on minors and
distributaries, the contractor either have to get the labour from outside or he has to use
village labour for the desilting and disposal tasks. Such a scenario can be understood in
two ways –
a. where the labour is called from outside:
If the labour is brought from outside, even for a short period, they would need
temporary housing, water supply and sanitation systems put up for them. It will be
quite critical that, any shelters put up should neither cause conflict with the local
villagers nor create any disturbance for them. Therefore, before selecting a site for the
temporary shelter, the villagers/WUAs should be consulted. Once the desilting
activities are completed, the temporary structures should be removed and the land be
restored, to the extent possible, to its earlier shape. There may be a possibility that,
there is no governmental land available for such camps, then WUAs/villagers should
be consulted so that they can suggest some alternatives.
b. where the labour belongs to same/nearby village:
This will be the better option, as this could provide employment to the villagers. But it
should be ensured that no internal conflict should occur among the villagers about
their turn for work, which is quite prominent among many government programs. The
routine activities like – lunch, easing etc. may produce wastes which should not
contaminate the local environment. Spots for dumping of such wastes may be located
and it should be closely watched that, the directives in this regard are adhered to.
Anyone of the following private activity should be carried out on a private land only
after mutual consent with the land owner
i. for temporary construction of camps/cottages or
ii. for access to disposal sites or
iii. for disposing waste
2. Disruption of local lifestyle(Pre-rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation)
Although the current activities are proposed to serve the farming community in a significant
way, still there will be certain short-term problems for the natives of that area, such as –
blocking of the thoroughfare and hindrances in villagers movement. Another associated
problem is related to traffic. The usual traffic will be affected due to parking of
tractors/trucks/machinery/equipment, if used, in desilting or transportation of desilted
matter.
The demarcation of space for parking and other construction/desilting activities needs to
be ensured in such a way that the impact on usual movement of traffic should be
minimized. Vehicles or machinery not in current use should be parked at pre-identified
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parking-bays, which should be far away from the usual pathways to avoid obstruction of
traffic movement.
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Protection of direct outlets during desilting (During-Rehabilitation)
The protection of existing canal outlets needs to be ensured, so that its blockage is
avoided. The water through outlets reaches the fields as usual however otherwise there
may be serious resentment among the water users which may leads to law and order
problem.
II. Disposal of desilted matter
The disposal of desilted matter is a critical exercise, which if not done properly and as per
disposal plan may lead to many environmental and socio-political problems. So the contractor
has to ensure strict compliance in this regard. The departmental field officers need to prepare a
comprehensive Silt Disposal Plan which should be made available to contractor’s
representative well in advance. Such a plan should clearly spell the disposal sites with
quantum of desilted matter to be disposed.
Prior to preparation of Silt Disposal Plan, the consent of villagers for disposal of desilted matter
onto their land is mandatory, so that there is no room for any confusion and conflict in this
regard. A copy of current consent Performa is being requested from PACT, so that its review
can be done.
There is another key aspect i.e. quality of desilted matter from minors It needs to be ensured
whether it is fit for the farms or not. For this, the desilted matter needs to be tested and
analyzed by the Mobile and Base Laboratories of the consultant.
The disposal of desilted matter involves many environmental issues, which if not timely tackled
may lead to health and social problems. These issues are as follows –
1. Canal bank flora (During-Rehabilitation)
Various plants, bushes, shrubs etc. are likely to be damaged during transportation of desilted
matter. Even the machinery/vehicles may also trample the floral species available on the
canal banks. In addition to this, the labour movement may also damage the flora.
The unplanned deposition of desilted matter on the canal banks lead to choking and
destruction of flora present over there, thereby leading to temporary termination of their
growth and if the desilted matter is not immediately disposed off to pre-decided disposal sites,
it would cause killing of floral varieties buried under the desilted matter.
There is very little data with regard to type of floral varieties on the banks of minors, so the
WUAs should make an informal inventory of local varieties of flora available on the banks, so
that later on species on the banks of canals can be restored to its original position. Although
this will be the responsibility of the contractor but the WUA and departmental field
functionaries should take serious note of progress in this regard while execution of works.
2. Pollution and degradation of local water bodies/systems (Pre-Rehabilitation and DuringRehabilitation)
The water-bodies (which are located in the vicinity of canal systems) such as – ponds, lakes,
wetlands are prone to sedimentation, pollution and overall destruction due to ill-planned Silt
Disposal or inadequate adherence to a comprehensive plan. Water-bodies are lifeline for the
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villagers. These water-bodies are used by cattle for bathing and drinking etc. Such bodies also
cater to a wide range of domestic needs of villagers and especially during lean period these
water-bodies are vital for their survival. There are many villagers whose livelihood is directly
linked with these water-bodies, for instance – these bodies are often used for lotus and water
chestnut (singhara) cultivation and so that selling of these items can fetch some money for the
villagers.
A well thought disposal plan should take care of these aspects. Efforts should be made to
identify and delineate such water-bodies so that disposal is not done in close vicinity of these
water-bodies. Water-bodies can be identified with the help of maps, village land records and
with consultations with the WUAs/villagers. One of the measures could be to dispose silt on the
other side of the bank, so that spillage and dispersion of desilted matter is not able to pollute or
contaminate the nearby water-bodies.
Another option which could be a bit costlier but may be considered, if funds permit. In this
measure a low – height temporary wall, may be of tin sheets can be erected along the toe of
banks in a short reach near a water body to avoid spillage and dispersion of desilted matter
into the water-body.
3. Air pollution by suspended desilted matter (During-Rehabilitation)
Suspension of desilted matter into the air leads to health hazards, it also becomes a challenge
for the villages to undertake their usual field related activities, as the polluted air would cause
irritation in eyes and choking of nose and lungs (due to inhalation of desilted matter
suspended in the air). These impacts become quite critical during the high surface winds. A
layer of fine silted matter covers the nearby articles/bodies, for instance – floral varieties, food
articles, etc. In addition to this, it may also cause excessive dusting in the houses, thereby
leading to unhygienic conditions.
The desilting and disposal activities are planned for execution during the closure of the
canals. So there is less possibility of avoiding such activities during the usual season of high
surface winds. However efforts can be made to ensure avoidance of suspension of desilted
matter into the vicinity. It is important and quite critical to ensure immediate disposal of
desilted matter at the pre-decided disposal sites, so that chances of blowing of desilted matter
into the environment may be minimized.
A provision to grow a vegetative cover on the disposal site after disposal is complete can be
very helpful in further curbing the spreading and blowing of desilted matter in the vicinity. Such
an activity has to be executed by the contractor under the supervision of the departmental
field functionary. The WUA can keep check on such measures.
4.
Issues related to identification of land for disposal (Pre-Rehabilitation and DuringRehabilitation)
It has been often observed that, during the disposal of desilted matter, the contractor is not
aware of the location of plot numbers cited in the disposal plan. So he ends up spending
unnecessary time for finding this out. This delays disposal and triggers many environmental
and health hazards.
The best option would be to conduct joint survey by departmental field functionary and
contractor along with some WUA members who are aware of location of plot numbers, so that
there is no confusion in this regard. For this exercise the administrative maps may prove to be
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quite useful. The repercussions could be quite volatile on the part of villagers, so it should be
ensured that this activity is timely and appropriately completed.
5.
Degradation of soil quality (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation)
The silt from the canals mainly in branches and head reaches of distributaries contains pure
sand. Such a desilted matter may reduce the fertility of the native soil and in addition to this, it
may also change the current chemical composition of soil thereby leading to other problems
related to compatibility, inhibited growth and reduced yield.
In order to overcome this problem, there is a need to test and analyze the chemical
composition of silt, so that it can be ascertained whether there would be any adverse impact.
Such tests and analysis should be done prior to decision about disposal, so that there is no
problem in this regard.
6. Aesthetical issues (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation)
The local ambience or aesthetics will get severely affected as the machinery and
tractors/trucks movement will disturb the local environment. This will be highly objectionable
for the villagers. So it will be pertinent for the departmental field functionaries to make aware
the WUAs about the proposed activities, so that at the time of execution there is no conflict in
this regard. The WUAs can make it sure that, all the villagers understand the utility of desilting
work for them. This will further help in bringing consensus and cooperation with regard to the
works.
Another key matter of consideration is that, the contract agreement for desilting work should
clearly spell restoration of original shape and form of the area, disturbed during
construction/rehabilitation activity. Stringent action including penalty should also be clearly
defined. The compliance for the same has to be ensured by the departmental field officer.
7. Destruction of farms and crops (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation)
Any machinery (for e.g. dredgers, tractors/trucks) if being used for canal desilting and
disposal should not enter fields located near the canals, as this may lead to destruction of
farms and crops. In addition to this, the blowing of desilted matter into the farms also proves
detrimental to the crops. This could further bring unnecessary confrontation with the local
farmers and in worst scenario it may further lead to a law and order problem.
Consultation with WUAs and local farmers will be the key to resolve such issues. The
departmental field functionary should organize a joint meeting of WUA/Villagers and
contractor’s representative so that both the parties listen to each other and reach a consensus
on the type of resolution to such a problem.
Transportation of desilted matter should take place immediately once the desilting is done.
This activity should be supervised by the departmental field functionaries and WUAs can
assist them in this regard.
8. Silt disposal during transportation (During-Rehabilitation)
Transportation of desilted matter is an important exercise which needs to be well taken care
of. The transporting silt may spill or blow in the transit and may form a layer of desilted matter
on the nearby plants and shrubs. This hinders the process of photosynthesis and thereby
leads to their inhibited growth or destruction. It may also lead to air-pollution and dusting. In
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case, the desilted matter is rich in moisture content then leakage of desilted matter from the
trucks/tractors will further spread it on the pathway.
The tractors/trucks used for transportation should be leak-proof and it should be ensured that,
the desilted matter to be transported in these vehicles should be thoroughly covered (may be
with a poly sheet).
Overloading should be avoided as this will lead to spilling of desilted matter in the transit. So
there should be a check on the quantum of desilted matter being loaded into the vehicles.
This can be monitored by the field functionaries with assistance of WUAs.
9. Malfunctioning of machinery and trucks/tractors (During-Rehabilitation)
The machinery and trucks/tractors engaged in desilting and disposal, if not well-maintained,
create lot of smoke and pollutes air. Such vehicles or machinery may leak oil/fuel and causes
pollution to local area. Such vehicles or machinery may also produce wastes which will
contaminate the environment.
In order to overcome these avoidable problems, the machinery and vehicles used for desilting
and disposal should be well maintained. Any waste from the vehicles/machinery should be
collected and immediately taken away from the site.
10. Damaging of canal banks and slopes (During-Rehabilitation)
If due care is not taken during disposal of the desilted matter placed on the banks after
excavation, the banks and slopes would get damaged. This may also lead to weakening of
banks. The awareness of labour in this regard will be quite critical in this regard.
The contractor should carefully undertake this exercise and the departmental field functionary
should supervise such activities, so that any damage to bunds and slopes can be avoided.
Provision for penalty should be clearly spelt out in the contract document, so that there should
be no back-tracking on the part of contractor. The contractor must take due care in finalizing
the lengths and slopes of the canal sections as per detailed drawings supplied to him by the
department.
11. Treatment of site (Post-Rehabilitation)
In order to understand treatment of site, two scenarios needs to be considered, which are as
follows –
a. Disposal site: once the disposal is completed at the pre-decided disposal site, it
should not be thought that the job is over. If left unattended it may spoil the whole
vicinity. It may cause spreading of desilted matter into the nearby water-body,
farms, human settlements. Therefore, it is highly essential to grow a vegetative
cover onto the desilted matter, so that spreading and flying of desilted matter can
be checked. Local grass and plant varieties can be considered for development of
a vegetative cover.
b. Canal bank and sides of service road: sometimes the desilted matter, if found
suitable, is used for strengthening and compaction of canal banks and service
road. Alongwith compaction, it should be ensured that the outer slopes and sides
of service road be provided with a vegetative cover to avoid damage to the banks
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during high surface winds and rains. Local varieties of plants and grass can be
considered for vegetation.
Such provisions should be an integral part of the contractual obligations of the contractor and
the compliance in this matter should be supervised by the departmental field functionaries and
WUAs may assist in this exercise.
12. Unauthorized dumping of waste material (During-Rehabilitation and Post-Rehabilitation)
The unauthorized dumping of wastes or any such material may lead to environmental
deterioration and social problems thereby triggering local conflicts. Unauthorized dumping
should not be allowed at any cost.
The departmental field functionaries and WUAs will have to ensure that disposal is done at
pre-decided disposal site. In this case, the WUAs will intimate the departmental functionaries
about the problems and discrepancies, if any during disposal and may also suggest the
possible and acceptable solution to the departmental functionaries.
III. Borrow Area Rehabilitation
The executing entities (contractor) borrow the area for soil digging for the purpose of construction
or strengthening of structures/banks of the canals. It has been often found that, these entities rarely
take environmental protection measures. Listed below are certain issues, which requires due
consideration –
1. In an event when the borrowed area is not compensated from environment viewpoint, it
may causes soil degradation and removal of all floral and faunal species of that area, if
any.
2. Proper disposal of left over material after construction/other-maintenance-related-activity
has to be ensured, the patch of area borrowed should be appropriately compensated from
environment point of view. Surplus excavated material should be used for construction in
fill, or be disposed off at suitable places. These places of dumping should be provided with
a vegetative cover
3. Loss of vegetation may also leads to
(i) Soil erosion
(ii) Stagnation of water leading to vector proliferation and thereby causing diseases related
to mosquitoes or other biting flees etc.
The loss of vegetation is another issue which needs to be dealt with, so that impact can be
minimized in this aspect. The executing entities can be directed to ensure growth of
vegetation in certain patch as a return for the destruction it has done to some other area in
the name of “Borrow Area”.
At this juncture, one needs to understand the significance of the ‘vegetative – cover’. The
vegetative cover allows the native floral and faunal species to grow and propagate. It also
hampers removal of top layer of earth i.e. soil (which is generally productive in nature)
either by wind or rainfall/run-off water.
4. In general the green trees are property of forests department, so if they are not taken into
confidence before any cutting activity, then it could bring unnecessary confrontation with
the forest authorities.
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Removal of vegetation and cutting of trees should be done judiciously and limited to
minimum possible extent. It is advised that cutting of any such tree (if highly essential)
should be done in consultation with the forest authorities.
2 Drains
Under the rehabilitation work numbers of drainage systems are also to be rehabilitated including
the earthwork.
This section is a mixture of standard guidelines and norms set under the IS codes issued by the
Bureau of Indian Standards. However it is to be noted that, in order to safeguard the environment
from the proposed drainage works, complete set of points are to be complied.
I. Guidelines with specific reference to drainage works
Although the environmental safeguards for undertaking physical works for maintenance and
rehabilitation of drains is more or less similar to canal’s maintenance works. However, certain
considerations in regard to drains are as follows –
1. In order to have uninterrupted silt disposal, the land availability has to be ensured before
excavation for the whole length of the drain. It often happens that due to encroachment,
the situation becomes complicated and the native villagers start demanding compensation.
The land records needs to be thoroughly checked before approving the designs to avoid
any eventuality. (Pre-Rehabilitation)
2. All the water bodies near or along the drains needs to be identified, so that by no means
the pathway of drain get connected to the water-body which may lead to emptying of the
water-body. (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation)
3. It sometimes happen that, the digging of drains lead to adverse impact onto the habitants
of water-bodies. So efforts need to be made in regard to conservation of such wetlands, if
any. One of the efforts could be bye-passing of wetlands, while designing new drains or
while modifying the existing drains. (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation)
In addition to this, the Bureau of Indian Standards has also issued certain directives in the Code
number IS 4839 (Part 3): 1992, for the maintenance of drains, those points which are vital from
environment viewpoint are as follows –
1. Silt cleared from the bed of a drain should be used to fill up holes and ruts on the
inspection bank. This silt should not be thrown up in heaps in such a way as to interfere
with the ingress of drainage. (During-Rehabilitation)
This may also leads to blowing of dried desilted matter during high surface wind.
2. The silt should not be disposed off on the inner slopes of the drain to safeguard its reentrance into the drains during rains, as this may potentially lead to choking or disruption
of usual path of drain. (During-Rehabilitation)
3. Toe (seepage) drain provided to intercept seepage water should be cleared of weeds
before the sowing of the crop in that region, to keep down the spring level. (DuringRehabilitation)
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This will also reduce the possibilities of water-logging and water losses. The water-logging
in turn may leads to vector proliferation thereby causing environmental and health hazards.
4. Trees which grow on the inner slopes of drains should not be felled without taking required
permission from the competent authority in the Forest Department. The compensatory
plantation/afforesatation should be ensured. The dead branches and rubbish that may
have accumulated in the drains should also be cleared. (During-Rehabilitation)
5. Bunds should not be permitted in drains, as this may damage the drain and should be
removed if found. However, there should be a provision in the “Technical Specification” of
drainage works that, throughout the agreement period, the bunds will be cleared off so that
damage to the drain can be avoided. (During-Rehabilitation)
II. Directives in IS codes for jungle clearance (During-Rehabilitation)
This IS code also illustrates directives for jungle clearance while undertaking maintenance
works. Some of the key directives which compliments the environmental considerations are as
follows –
1. All vegetative growth on canal banks should be cleared from 1.5 meters beyond the outer
edge of the road on the inspection bank and 3 meters beyond the shade-line on the other
bank. Where the FSL of the canal is more than 1 meter above the ground level, the jungle
clearance should be done from toe to toe of the outer slope of the bank.
2. All vegetative growth on distributaries and minors should be cleared from toe to toe of the
outer slopes of the banks. Shrubs, large grass such as – Kans, Jhunds and small trees,
especially Dhak should be dug out by the roots. Stumps of trees that have been standing
should be cut down to atleast below the ground. Ant hills shall be dug out and leveled off.
3. All vegetative growth on escapes and drains should be cleared from the outer edge of the
riding bank to the inner edge of the opposite bank.
4. Grass and jungle should never be allowed to grow on masonry works; it should be dug out
by the roots and the masonry then plastered. Grass against masonry works should be
scrapped off, as the masonry may get damaged in the process.
5. No trees, jungle of any kind and tall grass should be allowed to grow within 10 meters of a
masonry work. No big trees such as – Pipal, Gular, Bargad and Pilkhan should be allowed
within 25 meters of an important masonry works, as the roots of these trees may extend
upto the joints and damage the masonry.
6. When a tree is to be felled, a hollow should be dug around the base and the trunk cut
through as low down as possible, the hollow should then be filled-up to cover the root.
7. No grass or similar bushy plants be allowed at the internal section of canals and drains as
they will severely hamper the pace of water flow.
8. Shade-line trees should not be felled without special approval from concerned authorities.
9. Pruning of trees if at all is necessary should not be carried out with axe. The branch should
first be sawn about half through on the underside and then completely through from the
top, so that the bank may not be torn off. It should be done preferably in February just
before the sap begins to rise.
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This will allow better chances for the plant/tree to grow further, thereby leading to raise
aesthetic value of that area.
Other norms for general information and awareness
In case there are unavoidable circumstances to keep the tree alive, the Bureau of Indian
Standard (BIS) has issued practice-codes/directives for the authorities. This signifies the
recognition of aforestation and re-forestation by the BIS. The code number IS 4839 (Part 3):
1992, explains “Code of Practice for Maintenance of Canals”. As per standard practice,
compensatory plantation is mandatory if the agency feels that felling of trees is inevitable.
Directives for plantation and other regulation
The aspects required to be taken care while doing plantation is explicitly stated in the Section 8
of the aforementioned IS Code. It states –
1. Acquired land width of canal should be demarcated by planting suitable species of trees at
suitable intervals.
It will form an informal boundary, which will help in curbing the encroachment malpractices
by the villagers. It will also raise the environmental-value1 of that area.
2. Sowing seeds/plantation should commence in June and may be finished by the middle of
the month; so as to get full benefits of the rains.
3. In low ground liable to flooding, seeds should be sown on ridges.
4. The roots of seedlings should not be cut, nor broken when transplanting. They should be
dug out with a good ball of earth adhering and so carried to the new site. If grown in pots
like eucalyptus, the roots are sure to be pot-bound. In such cases the pot should be carried
to the new site and the seedling roots bare of earth and straightened down into the holes
dug for them. This greatly helps their subsequent growth.
5. The parasitic plants such as Amarbel and Banda should be removed, carried to an open
space and burnt. If the tree is completely covered by the parasite, it is recommended to cut
it down and burn the parasitic plant at once.
Even from environment viewpoint the parasitic plants causes adverse impact on overall
ambience by causing degradation of land, other floral varieties found in the close vicinity.
6. Branches and twigs overhanging a bank or roadway should be sawn/looped-off sufficiently
to give a clear headway of 4 meters above the road/bank.
7. Young plants should not be put out in the shade line until they have attained a height of
atleast 1.25 meters. It is better to lose a few plants by their being rather too large for
transplanting than to undertake the nursing of small seedlings in the shade-line.
8. All large roots should be taken out during the rains and burnt into charcoal when dry.
9. All newly planted trees and also those which are less then 2 meters in height should be
properly protected by tree guards.
Environmental – Value: A quality or characteristic or attribute, that is conducive to ecological health or
beneficial to us, which requires protection from the effects of pollution (of any kind), waste discharges,
disposal and deposits.
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10. The old tree guards should be repaired properly where necessary and all grass, jungle and
large grass such as Kans weeded out.
11. Newly planted trees should be watered regularly but not in excess and the top soil
loosened soon after watering. Established plants which have only been less than two
years on the shade-line required to be given similar treatment though not so often.
12. Large trees are well able to look after their own nourishment. A good heavy watering of 5-6
buckets about once a month only in the very hot weather is about all that is necessary for
trees of medium growth and even so the very big and established trees do not even need
this attention.
13. All trees should be carefully watched and any bad effect noticed should be immediately
attended to.
The code also provide certain regulations while undertaking maintenance of canals, these
regulations plays vital role in curbing avoidable water losses and environmental hazards. Some
of the key regulations mentioned in section 9 of this code are as follows –
1. No leakage should be permitted through the heads of canals that have been closed, as a
little water dribbling down a canal promotes the growth of grass and weeds in the bed.
2. When a canal is firstly opened after clearances, a low supply should be run, for a few
hours and the gauge then gradually raised according to requirements.
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