From research outputs to development outcomes—selected stories - Water Scarcity, Livelihoods and Food Security - page 180

the use of wastewater. In 2010, the national irrigation policy was launched,
which stated that, with certain precautions, the re-use of wastewater could be
beneficial.
Citations relevant to this story are: Amoah et al., 2005; IWMI, 2005; Keraita
et al., 2007; Abaidoo et al., 2009; IWMI, 2009; CPWF, 2012b.
Permits and pumping in West Bengal (PN42, PN60) 3
For decades, the Indian Government had sought to intensify farming in the
eastern Ganges by increasing the area of farmland irrigated with groundwater.
But it was almost impossible for smallholders in West Bengal state in the
eastern Ganges to access shallow groundwater for irrigation. The state govern-
ment required farmers to obtain a permit, which it justified as a means to avoid
over-exploiting groundwater. In practice, however, the system allowed rent-
seeking by corrupt officials. Even with a permit, farmers still had to pay the
cost of connecting to the electricity supply, which included cabling, trans-
former, poles and installation, plus the cost of the pump itself. The cost far
exceeded the ability of smallholders to pay.
Researchers in project PN42 carried out hydrological studies that identified
301 “safe blocks” in West Bengal that had high annual recharge of the aquifer
so that there was no risk of depleting it. Researchers then analyzed the permit
system and documented how costly it was. Researchers in PN60 showed the
state government that the permit system was an obstacle to the national
government priority to increase productivity. The state government then
changed policy to allow farmers in the 301 safe blocks to pump without
permits as long as the pumps were less than 5 horsepower and discharged less
than 30 m 3 /hour. The state electricity authority rationalized connection fees
to a fixed fee of 1000-30,000 rupees (US$16-US$475, September 2013)
depending on the connected load.
Irrigated farming by smallholders in West Bengal using small pumps has
increased rapidly. Aditi Mukherji, the lead researcher, was awarded the
inaugural Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application for this
work.
CPWF researchers identified safe zones where groundwater was not at risk,
quantified the cost of the permit policy and engaged with policymakers to
convince them of the need to change the policy. The research continued in
the International Water Management Institute with support from the Gates
Foundation. CPWF was just one partner, but it made key contributions to the
innovation process that provided the evidence to convince policymakers of the
need to change.
Citations relevant to this story are: Mukherji, 2008; Mukherji et al., 2009;
Mukherji, 2012a; Mukherji et al., 2012.