1. WOMEN-LED WATER GOVERNANCE FOR
SUSTAINABLE IRRIGATION IN WEST BENGAL, INDIA
Presented by
Subrata Halder
Executive Engineer (Agri-Irrigation)
Department of Water Resources Investigation & Development
Government of West Bengal

2. Water Resources-Irrigation-
Women’s Role…
Water- a finite and vulnerable resource…essential to sustain life,
development and environment.
10%
Irrigation
Others
90%
Rural women all over the world- playing an active role in
irrigation…thus contributing to food security.
Key Concerns:
 to establish women’s productive roles in managing irrigation water
resources vis-à-vis a women-led water governance planning for
sustainable irrigation in West Bengal.
 to empower of women through participatory process of irrigation
water management.
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3. Design & Operation of Irrigation Infrastructures
and Management of Water Resources-
Women Leadership & Empowerment
Design & operations:
System engineering and design: design process should incorporate consultations with
male and female users, so as to include both of their wishes, needs and requirements.
Legal, administrative and organizational arrangements: Explicit consultations should be held
with women users…women’s ideas and concerns should be included in WUA.
Operation: water delivery schedules should be devised in such a way as to accommodate
both male & female needs with respect to quantity, timeliness, timing, equity and quality of
water.
Empowerment with the following major social process of irrigation:
water acquisition- women take part in this process with men actively.
water allocation- If there are a good numbers of women in WUA then they can play
substantial role in deciding how much irrigation water to allocate and to whom.
water distribution- women are more active in distributing water at field channel.
system maintenance- both men and women involve in repairing and cleaning of irrigation
water conveyances.
resource mobilization- sometimes women provide labour for more days than men in
irrigation works and cash acts as an incentive for their participation.
conflict management- women in WUA can play an important role as they have
comparatively more ability to convince the disputants among water users and
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4. Women-led Water Governance in Minor
Irrigation of West Bengal
Women-led water governance i.e. use, development and management
of water for minor irrigation is still in preliminary stage in West
Bengal.
Women-led irrigation in West Bengal is generally limited to
indigenous techniques. As these irrigation technologies are simple,
easy to maintain, and less labour-oriented, women are increasingly
found to take part in it.
The traditional human powered irrigation techniques are still
predominant in Indian irrigated agricultural practices. Women join
hands with men irrigators using these traditional technologies in
small fragmented agricultural lands of West Bengal.
It has been expanding into other less labour oriented irrigation
technologies since few decades.
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5. Swinging Basket- max.
lifting depth- 1.2m; Flow
Rate (at depth 0.75m)-
60-80 lt/min
Swinging Basket Shadouf- max. lifting
depth- 4.0m; Flow Rate (at
depth 2-3m)~ 60 lt/min
Both the irrigation
techniques- popular in
central alluvial part of
West Bengal
Shadouf
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6. Treadle Pump- treadle
suction pump designed to
lift water from a depth of ≤7
m. The treadle pump fitted
with bamboo shallow tube
well- very popular among
women irrigator in Terai
region of Jalpaiguri &
Coochbehar district in W.B.
Flow Rate (at depth 4m)~
Treadle Pump 100 lt/min
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7. Farm Pond- rainwater is
harvested in farm ponds during
monsoon. Women participate in
digging farm ponds…help men
irrigators in the supply of
irrigation water in the nearby
agricultural field…widely
Farm Pond practiced in hard-rock, laterite &
coastal areas in W.B.
Water Harvesting Tank- spring
water is filled in WHT for
irrigation in hilly terraced
agricultural lands. Women in the
hilly areas of Darjeeling district
Water Harvesting Tank involved themselves in supply of
irrigation water.
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8. Drip Irrigation- ideal
with limited irrigation in
drought prone and
coastal saline areas
.…easily managed by
Drip Irrigation rural women community.
Sprinkler irrigation-
effectively managed by
rural women community
in hilly/bhabar and
coastal saline areas.
Sprinkler Irrigation
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9. Major Challenges in Women-led
Irrigation and Recommendations…
Major Challenges:
 Few women participate in community meetings and of water user groups.
 Lack of empirical data on women irrigators’ performance denies them the chance to
present arguments in the decision-making processes.
 Women frequently lack the confidence and the experience to deal with irrigation matter
in public.
 Since women’s specific concerns remain outside formalized decision-making
processes…they are not recognised as ‘real’ concerns and remain marginal.
The inclusion of women’s perspective, their ideas, opinions, needs and interests will thus require
an active and conscious effort.
Recommendations:
Women’s participation is still limited to Minor Irrigation sector in West Bengal.
Strong governance must be imposed so that irrigation WUA get registered and a quota
for women is to be established therein.
Male irrigators should support women and provide opportunities for woman irrigators
to share irrigation management benefits equally.
There must be efforts to create, provide, and share empirical data on women’s
performance in the irrigation sector to scale up women-involved and women-led
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