Chapter III CONSTRUCTION OF IRRIGATION WORKS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION

(1) Where the Government consider that it is necessary, in the interest of the general public, to construct an irrigation work of any kind on any land, the Government may, by notification, declare their intention specifying the land which is proposed to be covered by such irrigation work. (2) Where the Government consider that an irrigation work constructed by them should be commissioned partly or fully, the Government shall publish in the Gazette a notification to that effect containing such particulars as may be prescribed.

(1) Where the Government construct an irrigation work for utilising the water in a water course,- (a) the Government shall be entitled to regulate, utilise, protect and distribute all water in such water course and all the tributaries and branches thereof upwards such irrigation work in such manner as may suit the public purpose ; (b) no person or agency shall, without the sanction of the Government or such authority as may be authorised by the Government in that behalf, do anything which obstructs, interferes with, diminishes or is likely to obstruct, interfere with or diminish, the flow of water in such water course; (c) No person or agency shall use water from any irrigation work owned or controlled or maintained by the Government for any purpose other than domestic purpose except under, and in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence issued by such authority as may be prescribed. (2) Where the prescribed authority is satisfied that a licence issued under clause (c) of sub-section (1) may affect adversely the effective functioning of the irrigation work, he may, after giving the person affected thereby an opportunity of being heard, revise or cancel such licence.

(1) Any person who, by reason of the construction of an irrigation work by the Government, or the exercise of the powers conferred on the Government by or under this Act, suffers material damage on account of the deprivation or infringement of his riparian right to use watercourse for the purpose of irrigating his land or for any other purpose, shall be paid an amount of money for such damage: Provided that no amount shall be payable under this sub-section to a person who has not exercised his riparian right for a period of two years immediately preceding the commencement of this Act: Provided further that no payment under this sub-section shall be denied to a person if the non-exercise of the right was for no fault of his own: Provided also that no payment under the sub-section shall be denied to a person without giving him a reasonable opportunity of being heard. (2) The amount payable under sub-section (1) shall be assessed in cases where water was being used,- (a) for the purpose of irrigating land, at ten times the annual loss suffered or likely to be suffered by such deprivation or infringement; (b) for any other purpose, at five times the annual loss suffered or likely to be suffered by such deprivation or infringement. (3) Every claim under this section shall be preferred to the Collector within whose jurisdiction the land , the riparian right over which is deprived of, or infringed, is situated. (4) The Collector shall, after such enquiry as he deems fit and after giving the claimant an opportunity of being heard, by order, determine the amount, if any, payable to the claimant in consultation with the concerned Irrigation Officer and Agricultural Officer.

No claim under section 10 shall be entertained after the expiry of one year from the date of the notification under sub-section (1) of section 8:

Any person aggrieved by an order of the Collector under sub-section (4) of section 10 may, within ninety days from the date of receipt of the order, prefer an appeal to a committee constituted by Government in this behalf, in such form and in such manner, as may be prescribed, and the committee shall decide the appeal with in a period of six months from the date of receipt of the appeal and its decision there on shall be final: Provided that the committee may admit an appeal preferred after the expiry of the said period of ninety days if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within that period, but in no case such appeal shall be admitted after the expiry of six months from the date of the receipt of the order appealed against.

(1) Where the Government consider it necessary so to do, they may, subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified by them, entrust the construction or maintenance or both of any irrigation work, to any local authority or to any co-operative society or other society of farmers or to any other body corporate benefited by that irrigation work, and may, at any time, resume such work: Provided that no work entrusted to a local authority or a co-operative society or a society of farmers or to a body corporate shall be resumed without giving such local authority or co-operative society or other society or body corporate an opportunity of being heard. (2) The local authority or co-operative society or other society of farmers or any other body corporate to which any work is entrusted under sub-section (1) shall undertake the maintenance and upkeep of such work after completion on proper agreement and if the local authority or co-operative society or other society of farmers or the other body as the case may be, fails to comply with such agreement, the persons who have executed the agreement shall be responsible for the loss, if any, or the cost of maintaining the same by the department subsequently and such loss or cost of maintenance shall be realised from them. Explanation.- For the purpose of this section, the expression "co-operative society" means a society registered or deemed to be registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 (21 of 1969) and the expression "other society" means a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (Central Act 21 of 1860)or, as the case may be, under the Travancore Cochin Literary Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 (12 of 1955).

(1) The construction and maintenance of all minor and petty irrigation works within the limit of a local authority shall subject to the provisions of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 and the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 devolve upon that authority. (2) Where a local authority is unable to carry out the construction and maintenance of any minor or petty irrigation work devolved on it under sub-section(1), the Government may on written request from such local authority, carry out such work or entrust such work, subject to such terms and conditions as they may specify, to any of the societies referred to in section 13.