Chapter I PRELIMINARY

2. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a) "Canal Officer" means any officer appointed or invested with powers of a Canal Officer under section 3;

(b) "Chief Engineer" means an officer appointed by the State Government as Chief Engineer for Irrigation and includes any officer appointed to perform the functions of a Chief Engineer under this Act;

(bb) "Command Area Development Authority" means the Command Area Development Authority established under the Karnataka Command Areas Development Act, 1980 (Karnataka Act 6 of 1980).

(c) "Deputy Commissioner" includes any officer not below the rank of an Assistant Commissioner, appointed by the State Government to exercise all or any of the powers of a Deputy Commissioner under this Act;

(d) "drainage work" includes,- (i) channels, either natural or artificial, for the discharge of waste or surplus water, and all works connected with or auxiliary to such channels; (ii) escape channels from an irrigation work, dams, weirs, embankments, sluices, groynes and other works connected therewith, but does not include works for the removal of sewage; (iii) any work in connection with a system of reclamation made or improved by Government for the purpose of drainage of the country; and (iv) all works for the protection of lands from inundation or erosion, constructed or maintained either wholly or in part by the State Government;

(e) "field channel" means any water course, hikkal or pipe having a capacity not exceeding one cubic foot per second, which is supplied with water from an irrigation work, and includes all subsidiary works belonging to such field-channel, except the sluice or outlet through which water is supplied to such channel or pipe;

(f) "flood-embankment" means any embankment constructed or maintained by Government in connection with any system of irrigation or reclamation works for the protection of lands from inundation or which may be declared by the State Government to be maintained in connection with any such system, and includes all groynes, spurs, dams and other protective works connected with such embankments;

(g) "Irrigation Officer" means any officer appointed as an Irrigation Officer or invested with the powers of an Irrigation Officer under section 3;

(h) "irrigation work" includes,- (i) all reservoirs, tanks, wells, anicuts, bandharas, ponds, spring ponds, canals, field-channels, thalapariges, pipes, channels, aqueducts and sluices constructed, maintained or controlled wholly or partly by Government for the supply, conveyance or storage of water; (ii) all works, embankments, structures, supply and escape channels, connected with such reservoirs, tanks, anicuts, bandharas, channels, canals, pipes, sluices, and all roads constructed for facilitating the construction or maintenance of such reservoirs, tanks, anicuts, bandharas, canals, channels pipes and sluices; (iii) all drainage works and flood embankments; (iv) any part of a river, stream, lake, natural collection of water or natural drainage channel to which the State Government may apply the provisions of section 5 or of which the water has been applied or used before the commencement of this Act for the purpose of any existing irrigation work; (v) all lands appropriated by the State Government for the purpose of such reservoirs, tanks, anicuts, bandharas, canals, channels, pipes, sluices and all buildings, machinery, fences, gates and other erections upon such lands;

(i) "land holder" or "holder" means the person in whom a right to hold the land is vested, whether solely on his own account or wholly or partly in trust for another person or for a class of persons or for the public and includes a mortgagee vested with right of possession;

(j) "notification" means a notification published in the official Gazette; (k) "occupier" means, in respect of any land, any person who has an interest in the land and cultivates the land himself or by his servants, or by hired labour, and includes a tenant; (l) "owner" includes every person having a joint interest in the ownership of the thing specified; and all rights and obligations which attach to an owner under this Act shall attach jointly and severally to every person having such joint interest in the ownership; (m) "patel" means such officer as the State Government may declare to be a patel for the purposes of this Act; (n) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (o) "Tahsildar" includes any officer appointed by the State Government to exercise all or any of the powers of a Tahsildar under this Act. (p) "Water Users' Apex Level Federation" means a Water Users' Apex Society registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1959) which shall consist of members as specified in its bye-laws; (pp) "Water Users Association" means "a Water Users Association registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960 (Karanataka Act 17 of 1960),- (a) members of which consist of not less than sixty percent of the Water Users for cultivation of land; or (b) majority of members of which consist of Water Users for cultivation of land and holding not less than fifty one percentd of land; under an irrigation work being a tank irrigating less than two thousand hectares but excluding tanks within the command area of a major or medium irrigation project. Provided that a Water Users Society registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 in respect of such tank priors to the commencement of the Karnataka irrigation and Certain Other Law (Second Amendment) Act, 2002, may continue till a water Users Association is registered. (q) "Water Users Distributary Level Federation" means a Federation of Water Users Societies at Distributory Level registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1959) the members of which consist of not less than fifty one percent of the Water Users Societies within an area in relation to a distributary of a major or medium irrigation project, as may be notified by the State Government; (r) "water Users Project Level Federation" means,- (i) in the case of a major irrigation project, a Federation of Water Users Societies or Water Users Distributary Level Federations at the project level registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1959) the members of which consist of not less than fifty one percent of Water Users Societies or Water Users Distributary Level Federation within an area in relation to the major irrigation project as may be notified by the State Government; (ii) in the case of a medium irrigation project, a federation of Water Users Societies at the project level registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1959) the members of which consist of not less than fifty one percent of Water Users Societies within an area in relation to the medium irrigation project as may be notified by the State Government; (iii) in the case of a minor irrigation or lift irrigation works, a federation of Water Users Societies in relation to such minor irrigation or lift irrigation works registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1959) the members of which consist of not less than fifty one percent of Water Users Societies within such area as may be notified by the State Government; (s) "Water Users Society" means a Water Users Co-operative Society registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1959),- (a) members of which consist of not less than sixty percent of the Water Users for cultivation of land; or (b) majority of members of which consist of Water Users for cultivation of land and holding not less than fifty one percent of land, under an irrigation work within the area of operation of the society but excluding a tank irrigating less than two thousand hectares and not falling within the command area of a major or medium irrigation project. Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause "area of operation " means an area comprising a contiguous block of land within an irrigation work as may be notified by the Irrigation Officer. from time to time"

3. Appointment of officers. The State Government, or, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, any officer of Government empowered in this behalf may, by notification,- (a) appoint such officers with such designations, and assign to them respectively such powers and duties over such areas or such irrigation works under this Act, as the State Government or such officer may deem fit; (b) invest any officer of Government in any Department or any other person with such powers and impose upon him such duties over such areas or such irrigation works under this Act, as the State Government or such officer may deem fit.