Kurnool-Cuddapah canal large-scale irrigation system in Andhra Pradesh, South India

Resource System
Watershed and associated topography
Resource Units
Freshwater for irrigation

 

The Kurnool-Cuddapah (KC) Canal Irrigation System draws water from Tungabhadra river through the Sunkesula Dam on flows through Cuddapah and Kurnool districts in state of Andhra Pradesh in South India providing water to around 120,000 hectares and servicing around 250,000 farm households (check). It was originally built by the Dutch for navigation purposes and later sold to the British and used for irrigation purposes. It was modernized somewhat around 1950s. The main canal is largely a "north-south" system but there is large system of distributaries that traverse eastward and westward from the main canal.

This case was first studied by Robert Wade in late 1970s-early 1980s in his book “The Village Republics: The Economic Conditions for Collective Action in South India.”

Wade’s study, which covered 31 irrigated and 10 unirrigated villages, found highest level of collective action in villages at thetail end and least at the head-end. Most other studies on CPRs focus on a single case where collective action is observed (or not). Wade studied the variation in the level of collective action along the same irrigation canal and so provides a much deeper analysis of the determinants of collective action.