Chapter V PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO ALL CANALS

Save as otherwise hereinafter expressly provided, the provisions of this Chapter shall be applicable to all canals, whether included under Schedule I or under Schedule II.

Whenever, in respect of any canal, any question arises which has under this Act or the rules made thereunder, to be determined by the request, consent or decision of the owner, and the ownership of such canal is vested in more persons than one who are unable to agree as to such request, consent or decision, it shall be lawful for the Collector to act on behalf of the owners in any such matter, and the request, consent or decision of the collector in any such case shall be binding upon every person who possesses any share in the ownership of such canal. In every such case the Collector shall give due consideration to the wishes of the share-holder or share-holders who possess the larger interest, and when the question is one whether the Government shall be required to take any action, the wishes of such share-holder or shareholders shall prevail and be accepted by the Collector.

1. (1) Save as provided in the preceding section, whenever a dispute arises between two or more persons in regard to their mutual rights and liabilities in respect of the ownership, construction, use or maintenance of a canal or water-course, and any such person applies in writing to the Collector stating the matter in dispute, the Collector shall give notice to the other person or persons interested that on a day to be named in such notice or any such day to which the proceedings may be adjourned, he will proceed to inquire into the matter in dispute.
2. (2) Upon the day so named or any such subsequent day as aforesaid, the Collector shall proceed to hear and determine the dispute in the following manner, that is to say,-
   • (a) If the dispute relates to the ownership of a canal or the mutual rights of owners in the use of the water of such canal or the construction of maintenance of a canal or the payment of any share of the costs of such construction or maintenance or the distribution of the supply of water from a canal, the Collector shall proceed as a Revenue Court under the provisions of the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887, and the provisions of that Act, regarding appeals, revisions and reviews shall be applicable.
   • (b) If the dispute relates to a water-course the Collector shall hear and determine the case as a Revenue Officer and shall make such order thereon as to him seems fit, and such order shall, unless set aside on appeal to the Commissioner, be conclusive as to the use or distribution of water for any crop sown or growing at the date of such order.

Acquisition of land for canals

1. (1) Any person who has obtained the permission of the '[State] Government to construct, or who owns a canal, may apply in writing to the Collector to take up any land required for the purposes of such canal.
2. (2) If the Collector is of opinion that the application should be granted, he shall submit it, with his recommendation for the orders of the '[State] Government.
3. (3) If, in the opinion of the '[State] Government the application should, whether in whole or in part, be granted, it may declare that the land is required for a public purpose within the meaning of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and direct the necessary action to be taken thereunder.

Whenever it appears to the '[State] Government expedient in the public interest to acquire any canal, the '[State]

Notice as to claims for compensation As soon as practicable after the issue of such notification the Collector shall cause public notice to be given at convenient places stating that the '[State]

Inquiry into claims

1. (1) The Collector shall proceed to inquire into any such claim and to determine the amount of compensation, which should be given to the claimant. In assessing such compensation the collector shall proceed as provided in section 55, but for the purposes of this section he shall also have regard to the history of the canal, the expenditure incurred thereon and the profits of the owner.
2. (2) No claim for compensation shall be enforceable after the expiration of one year from the date of the notice under section 46, unless the Collector is satisfied that the claimant had sufficient cause for not making the claim within such period.

1. (1) The '[State] Government shall by notification declare the day on which a canal has been acquired by it.
2. (2) Subject to the award of compensation to the owner or person interested in the said canal, when the '[State] Government acquires a canal-
   • (a) the right, title and interest therein of the owner thereof shall forthwith cease and determine,
   • (b) such canal, subject to any rights to take water for irrigation which any person may have, shall forthwith vest in and be the absolute property of '[the State Government.]

The '[State] Government may, by notification published in the official Gazette, take power to regulate the flow of water in any river, creek, natural channel or line of natural drainage whether by the construction or removal of works or otherwise, and whenever it appears, to such Government, after inquiry through the Collector that the supply of water to a canal or the cultivation of any land or the public health or public convenience is likely to be injuriously affected by the obstruction of any river, creek, natural channel or line of natural drainage it may, by notification published as aforesaid, prohibit within the limits to be defined by such notification the formation of such obstruction, or may within such limits order the removal or other modification of such obstruction.

1. (1) The Collector may, after such publication, issue an order to the person causing or having control over any such obstruction to remove or modify the same within a time to be fixed in the order.
2. (2) The Collector may himself remove or modify the obstruction-
   • (a) if the person to whom the order under sub-section
3. (1) was issued fails to comply with that order within the time so fixed; and
   • (b) in any case where the obstruction is not caused or controlled by any person.
4. (3) The Collector shall determine from whom the cost of removing or modifying the obstruction shall be recovered, and the amount of compensation due to any person injuriously affected by the removal or modification of the obstruction and the person by whom such compensation shall be payable :

Power of the Collector to regulate flow of water and prohibit or remove obstructions When the '[State] Government has by notification as provided in section 49 taken power to regulate the flow of water in any river creek or natural channel or line of natural drainage it may authorize the Collector to exercise such power on its behalf in accordance with such rules as it may prescribe. A Collector so authorised may, in the execution of such rules exercise all the powers conferred upon him by section 50, and his authority shall include the power to take such action as the '[State] Government is empowered by section 49 to take after inquiry through the Collector. Such authority may on every occasion be exercised without the publication of any further notification in the '[Official Gazette.]

1. (1) The Collector may, at any time, order the '[beneficiary] of any canal under Schedule II to-
   • (a) repair and maintain, in a proper state, all or any embankments, protective works, reservoirs, channels, water-courses, sluices, outlets and other works connected with the canal
   • (b) construct, repair and maintain, in a proper state, a suitable bridge, culvert, or similar work at any place across, under, or over the canal, for the purpose of providing communication with any public road or thoroughfare which was in use before the canal was made;
   • (c) construct, repair and maintain, in a proper state, suitable works for the passage of the water of the canal across, under, or over any public road or thoroughfare or any canal or drainage channel which was in use before the canal was made.
2. (4) construct, rapair and maintain, in a proper state, a suitable regulator at or near the head of the canal where, for want of such regulator, an excessive supply of water may enter the canal or cause damage to it, or any crops, lands, roads or property in the neighbourhood.
3. (2) The Collector may at any time order a beneficiary to furnish unskilled labour free of cost for any one or more of the purposes specified in section 26 of this Act.]
4. (3) Every order under subsections
5. (1) and
6. (2) shall be in writing, and shall specify a reasonable time within which the works or repairs mentioned therein shall be completely executed.
7. (4) If any order made under this section is not obeyed, to the satisfaction of the Collector, within the time therein specified, the Collector may himself execute or complete the execution of, or cause to be so executed or completed all works or repairs specified in the order.

In the case of canals included under Schedule I, the Collector may-

1. (a) call upon the '[beneficiaries] to discharge any of the liabilities specified in section 52, sub-section

1. (1) which the '[State] Government may have declared to attach to the '[beneficiaries] from such canal or group of canals; or
   • (b) himself arrange for the performance of such acts and recover the cost as provided in section 57.

1. (1) If any new work is immediately required to prevent serious detriment to the utility of a canal, the Collector may, notwithstanding anything in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, take immediate possession of any land required for the construction of the work.
2. (2) When the Collector has taken possession of any land under subsection (1), he shall, upon application made to him in this behalf, assess and pay compensation under section 55.
3. (3) In the event of sudden and serious damage or urgent risk to a canal or to property situate in the immediate neighbourhood thereof, or to irrigation carried on therefrom, or to the public traffic, the Collector may, after giving previous notice, execute or cause to be executed such works as he may think necessary in order to remedy or prevent such damage or risk; and may require any irrigator to furnish such labour as to the said Collector may seem reasonable and necessary for the immediate execution of such works.
4. (4) Labour furnished under this section shall be paid for at the local market rate.
5. (5) An order passed under subsections
6. (3) and
7. (4) shall be final.

In assessing the amount of compensation to be paid under any section of this Act, other than sections 12, 14, 21, 39 and 50, the Collector shall proceed under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894; and the provisions of that Act regarding inquiries and awards by the Collector, references to the Civil Courts and procedure thereon, apportionment of compensation, payment and appeals shall, as far as may be, be applicable to all proceedings under this section.

With the consent of the parties, the Collector may, when assessing the amount of compensation to be paid, direct, in the case of an acquisition of land, that the property in such land shall remain with the owner subject to a right of user so long as the land is required for the purpose of the canal or water-course, compensation being awarded for the right of user only, or in the case of an acquisition of a canal, or of land for the purposes of a canal, that the compensation shall take form in whole or in part of a right to a supply of water from the canal which has been acquired or for the purposes of which land has been acquired.

1. (1) When any land is acquired under the provisions of section 44, or when any work is executed by or under the orders of the Collector under the provisions of section 50, section 52, section 53 or section 54, the cost of acquiring such land or of executing such work, as the case may be, shall be recoverable—
   • (a) if the canal is included under Schedule II,—from the owner thereof, or
   • (b) if the canal is included under Schedule I,—from the irrigators or such of them as are, in the opinion of the Collector, benefited or likely to be benefited by the acquisition or equitably liable for the whole or any part of the cost of executing the work or from the proceeds of any water-rate levied under section 29; and
   • (c) if such appropriation is not contrary to the provisions of the record-of-rights specified in section 28 of this Act,—from the fund referred to in section 27 of this Act.
2. (2) When the cost of acquiring any land or of executing any work is, under the provisions of sub-section (1), recoverable from the owner of any canal or from the irrigators therefrom, or any of them, it shall be lawful for the Collector to apportion such cost as to him may seem equitable, among all or any of the persons liable for the whole or any portion thereof and such apportionment shall be final.
3. (3) When the cost of acquiring such land has been paid, such land, if acquired in full proprietary right, shall become the property of the canal-owner.

The [State] Government may, by general or special order, prohibit or regulate the construction of new, and regulate the use of existing, mills upon canals, and the appropriation of the water of canals for working mills.

Except in so far as a contrary intention is expressed, sections 13 to 16 (both inclusive) of the Punjab Land Revenue Act of 1887, shall apply to all proceedings under this Act.

Save as to section 55 provided, no Civil Court shall have jurisdiction in any matter which a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court is empowered by this Act to dispose of, or take cognizance of the manner in which the [State]

Power to appoint officers to exercise functions under this Act

1. (1) The [State] Government may appoint any person or any class of officials to perform any functions or to exercise any powers, by this Act or the rules made thereunder conferred on or vested in the Collector, Commissioner, Financial Commissioner of such Government.
2. (2) Such appointment may be made in respect of any canal or of all or any of the canals situate within any specified local area.
3. (3) In all matters connected with this Act, the [State] Government shall have and exercise over the Financial Commissioner, the Commissioner and the Collector, and the Financial Commissioner shall have and exercise over the Commissioner and the Collector, and the Commissioner shall have and exercise over the Collector, the same authority and control as it or they respectively have and exercise over them in the general and revenue administration.

For the purposes of every inquiry made and proceeding taken under this Act, the Collector or any other Revenue Officer authorized by him in this behalf shall have power to summon and enforce the attendance of and examine parties and witnesses and compel the production of documents, and for any of these purposes may exercise all or any of the powers conferred on a Civil Court by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1882, and every such inquiry shall, for the purposes of the Indian Penal Code, be deemed to be a judicial proceeding.

In all cases under sections 6, 8, 11, 21, 23, 25, 30, 31, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53 and 57 of this Act, the owners and other parties interested in the canal shall be given an opportunity of appearing before the Collector and of showing cause to the contrary.

Every summons, notice, proclamation and other process issued under this Act shall, as far as may be, be served or made in the manner provided in that behalf in sections 20, 21, and 22, of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no person shall be entitled to recover any compensation for anything at any time done or in good faith intended to be done in exercise of any power conferred by this Act or by the rules made thereunder.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything done, or in good faith intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

1. (1) In any suit or proceeding in which an entry made in any record prepared under section 28 or section 35 is directly or indirectly called in question the Court shall, before the final settlement of issues, give notice of the suit or proceeding to the Collector and, if moved to do so by the Collector, shall make the [State] Government a party to the same.
2. (2) Save as provided in sub-section
3. (1) no suit shall lie against the Government in respect of anything done by the Collector or by any person acting under the orders of the [State]

Power to recover water-dues water-rates and other charges by revenue process All water-dues, water-rates and other payments at any time due by or to be collected from any person under any provision of this Act or under an agreement entered into by the owners of the canal or the person irrigating from it and all arrears of such water-dues, water-rates or other payments shall be recoverable as if the same were arrears of land-revenue.

Any or all of the powers exercisable by the State Government under this Act in respect of any canal, river, or creek, may be exercised by such Government in the case of any canal, river, or creek, which is or may at any time be situate partly with and partly without the limits of Punjab and in respect of so much of any such canal, river, or creek, as is within those limits; and in the case of any such canal, river or creek, the State Government may by notification, and notwithstanding the provisions of section 2, declare what sections of this Act shall be applicable thereto.

In respect of any canal situate beyond the limits of Punjab the State Government may, by notification published in the official Gazette, declare that the powers exercisable by a collector under section 54 may, under the circumstances there specified, be exercised by the Collector or other authorized officer within the limits of Punjab for all or any of the purposes of such canal.

Whoever without proper authority and voluntarily does any of the acts following, that is to say,–

1. (1) damages, alters, enlarges, or obstructs any canal ;
2. (2) interferes with, increases or diminishes the supply of water in, or the flow of water born, through, over or under any canal ;
3. (3) interferes with or alters the flow of water in any river, creek or stream so as to endanger, damage or render less useful any canal ;
4. (4) being responsible for the maintenance of any water-course or using a water-course, neglects to take proper precautions for the prevention of waste of the water thereof, or interferes with the authorized distribution of the water therefrom or uses such water in an unauthorized manner ;
5. (5) corrupts or fouls the water of any canal so as to render it less fit for the purposes for which it is ordinarily used ;
6. (6) being liable to furnish labour under this Act, fails without reasonable cause, to supply or to assist in supplying the labour required of him ;
7. (7) being liable to supply labour under this Act, neglects, without reasonable cause, so to supply and to continue to supply labour ;
8. (8) destroys or removes any level-mark or water-gauge fixed by the authority of a public servant,
9. (9) passes or causes animals or vehicles to pass on or across any of the works, banks or channels of a canal contrary to rules made under this Act after he has been desired to desist therefrom ;
10. (10) disobey any order or proclamation issued under this Act, or commits any breach of any rule made thereunder ; shall be liable on conviction before a Judicial Magistrate of such class as the High Court directs in this behalf, to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees or to imprisonment not exceeding one month, or to both.

Any person in charge of or employed upon any canal managed by servants of the Government or by a District Board may remove from the lands or buildings belonging thereto, or may take into custody without a warrant, and take forthwith before a Magistrate, or to the nearest Police-Station, to be dealt with according to law any person who, within his view, commits any of the following offences :-

1. (1) wilfully damages or obstructs any canal ;
2. (2) without proper authority interferes with the supply of, or flow of water in or from any canal or in any river or stream, so as to endanger, damage or render less useful any canal.

In sections 71 and 72 the word 'canal' shall (unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context) be deemed to include also all lands occupied for the purposes of canals and all buildings, machinery, fences, gates and other erections, trees, crops, plantation or other produce upon such lands.

1. (1) Thc *[State] Govelnrnent may make rules, consistent with this Act, regulating any rnatter in regard to which any power is, by this Act, conferred upon the ,'[State] Government, or upon any officer of the SIGovement]and generally to carry out the purposes of this Act.
2. (2) Withoutprejudicetothegener&tyoftl~epowmconferred by subsection (l), rules made under this Act may provide for the levy of a rate imposed upon land in consideration of its protection from sand or flood. (3) all rules made under sub-section
   • (I) shall be so made after previous publication in the Gazette