Chapter IV PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO CANALS INCLUDED UNDER SCHEDULE II

Except as the State Government may otherwise direct under section 69 the provisions of this chapter shall apply only to canals for the time being included under Schedule II.

Where there are numerous share-holders in the ownership of a canal, or where it is difficult to ascertain the persons who are share-holders, or the extent of the interest of the share-holders, or any of them, the Collector may, if there is no proper manager or representative, require by a proclamation or notice in writing, the share-holders to nominate, within a given period, a fit person as manager of the canal and their representative, and, upon their failure to do so, may himself appoint any person to be the manager of such canal and the representative of the share holders, and the person so appointed may thereupon do all acts and things which the share-holders or any of them might lawfully do in regard to the management of such canal, and all acts and things so done by him shall be binding upon every person who possesses any share in the ownership of such canal.

The State Government may, by notification, declare all or any of the provisions of section 28 (as to the preparation and revision of records) to be applicable to any canal, and, upon any such declaration being made, such provisions shall, as far as may be, apply accordingly.

1. (1) It shall be lawful for the State Government, by notification, to assume the control or management, or both, of any canal-
   • (a) if the owner of such canal consents thereto, and subject to the condition (if any) on which such consent may in any case be given;
   • (b) if, after inquiry, the State Government is satisfied that the control or a management exercised by or on behalf of the owner is such as causes grave injury to the property or health of persons owning lands in the vicinity;
   • (c) in the event of any wilful and continuous breach of orders issued under section 39 of this Act.
2. (2) When the control or management, or both, of any canal is assumed under the provisions of sub-section (1), the State Government may exercise all or any of the rights and powers in regard thereto which, but for such assumption, the owner might lawfully have exercised, and may delegate such powers or any of them to any person, but Government shall, in the absence of any decree or agreement to the contrary, be liable to account from time to time, to such owner for the income and expenditure thereof and may at any time restore the canal to the owner.

When the control or management, or both, of a canal shall be assumed by the State Government under clause

1. (b) or clause
2. (c) of sub-section

1. (1) of section 36, and such control or management shall have continued for a period exceeding six years, the owner thereof may, by notice in writing delivered to the Collector, require that the Government shall acquire such canal.

On receipt of notice under section 37 the State Government shall by notification declare that the said canal will be acquired after a day to be named in the said notification, not being earlier than three months from the date thereof, and after the issue of such notification the Collector shall proceed as in sections 46 and 47 provided.

The '[State] Government may, after inquiry through the Collector, in respect of any canal, issue orders as to all or any of the following things, namely :-

1. (a) fixing the limits within which land may be irrigated from such canal;
2. (b) fixing, as it may deem equitable, the amount and character of the water-rates leviable by the owner, and the conditions on which such rates are to be paid, suspended, remitted or refunded ;
3. (c) regulating the supply and distribution of the water to and from such canal : Provided that if any land which has been continuously irrigated from the canal for three years previously is deprived of irrigation, or the income of the canal-owner from such canal is materially reduced by reason of any order passed under this section, the owners of such land or the canal-owner shall be paid by Government or by such persons as Government may determine such compensation as the Collector may consider reasonable : Provided further that if the canal-owner has in the opinion of the '[State]

Collection in certain cases of water-rates of a canal by the State Government

1. (1) The '[State] Government may, at the request of the owner, undertake the collection of the water-rates leviable in respect of a canal for such period as may be agreed upon with him, and may, thereupon,-
   • (a) regulate such collection and determine the persons by whom it shall be made;
   • (b) direct that by way of payment for service rendered in making such collection, deductions shall be made not exceeding 3 per cent of the amount collected.
2. (2) During the period for which the '[State] Government has undertaken the collection of the water-rates leviable in respect of a canal, no suit for the recovery of any such rates shall be instituted.