Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,. — (a) "beneficiary" means a person or persons who derive benefit from an irrigation work whether directly or indirectly; (b) "betterment levy" means tax levied under Chapter VII of this Act; (c) "Canal Officer" means an officer exercising control over a sub-division of an irrigation work or portion of an irrigation work; (d) "Canal revenue" includes water rate, betterment levy, project participation charges water cases, crop cases, license fee for fishing, navigation, sale of grass, trees and other produce from the land belonging to irrigation work proceeds from lease of land belonging to irrigation work, water mills and from sale of water for purposes other than irrigation; (e) "Collector" means the head revenue officer of a district and includes a Deputy Commissioner or other officers appointed under this Act to exercise all or any of the powers of a Collector; (I t "Irrigation works" includes— (i) all reservoirs, tanks, dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic water supply works, pipes, ponds, spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts sluices, pumping installations constructed, maintained or controlled by the Government for the supply or storage of water; (ii) all works, embankments, structures, control structures including outlets, supply and escape channels connected with such reservoirs, tanks, dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic water supply works, pines, ponds, spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts, sluices, pumping installations, and all roads constructed for facilitating the construction or maintenance of such reservoirs, tanks, dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic water supply works, pipes ponds, spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts, sluices and pumping installation: (iii) all drainage works, flood embankments, wells, water courses and field channel; (iv) any part of a river, stream, lake or natural collection of water or natural drainage channel and ground waters to which the Government ;as applied the provisions of Chapter II of this Act; (v) all lands held by the Government for the purpose of such reservoirs, tanks, dams, weirs, canals, barrages, channels, domestic water supply works, pipes, ponds spring ponds, spring channels, aqueducts, sluices, pumping installations and all buildings, machinery, fences, gates and other erections upon such lands; (vi) Zamindari Khuls; (vii) all lands, roads, cross drainage, catch water drains, R. D. pillars, boundary pillars, reference pillars, buildings, machinery, fences, gates, other erections, trees, crops, plantations, or other produce, occupied by or belonging to Government for the purposes of irrigation works; (m) "lands under irrigable commands" means such lands as are irrigated or capable of being irrigated by flow or lift from an irrigation work being under its command and shall include also such cultivated land which received in the opinion of the Divisional Canal Officer, by percolation or otherwise from an irrigation work or by indirect flow, percolation or drainage from or through adjoining land, an advantage beneficial to the crop; (n) "notification" means a notification published in the Government Gazette; (o) "occupier" includes an occupier of land or property who cultivates or possesses the same for the time being; (p) "on-farm development" includes any of the following works— (i) land-levelling and land-shaping, including realignment of field boundaries and terracing: (ii) providing of falls, culverts and farm roads in the fields; (iii) land reclamation by use of engineering, biological and chemical measures, including leaching; (iv) contour bunding and nala bunding; (v) such other work as may be necessary or incidental to development of land or ground or flow water potential and for optimising the utilisation of land and water resources; (q) "outlets" includes an opening, constructed, by the Government in an irrigation work through which water is delivered into a water course or field channel or directly on to any land; (r) "owner" includes ' every person having interest in the ownership of land or property, and all rights and obligations which attach to an owner under the provisions of this Act shall attach jointly and severally to every person having such joint interest in the ownership; (s) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (t) "Project participation charges" means charges leviable under Chapter VIII of the Act; (u) "Sewage effluent" means effluent from any sewerage system or sewage disposal works and includes sullage from open drains; (v) "Superintending Canal Officer" means an officer exercising general control over an irrigation work or portion of an irrigation work; (w) "Tchsildar" means a Revenue Officer designated as such having jurisdiction in an area in which the irrigation work is situated; (x) "Trade effluent" includes any liquid, gaseous or solid substance which is discharged from any premises used for carrying on any trade or industry, other than domestic sewage; (y) "vessel" includes boats, rafts, timber, and other floating bodies; (z) "water course" means the length of a channel between an outlet and a field channel, built at the cost of the Government and maintained by the owners or occupiers to carry water from an outlet to any block of land or as may be prescribed: (aa) "water rate" means water rate levied under Chapter V of this Act; (bb) "well" means a well sunk for search or extraction of ground water and includes an open well, dug well, bored well, dugout- bored well, tube-well and filter point; (cc) "Zamindari Khuls" means an irrigation channel which was maintained by the beneficiaries themselves but taken over by the Government for the purpose of remodeling, repair maintenance, whether before or at the time of commencement of this Act and includes such of the Khuls which may be taken over by the Government in future for remodeling, repair or maintenance; (dd) "Zilladar" means an officer exercising control over a canal in respect of proper distribution and regulation of water and is responsible for the assessment of canal revenue.