Irrigation of the Nation
The Big Dams-versus-Small Dams controversy would have been laid to rest long ago had there been greater public awareness of the unbelievably poor track record of large irrigation projects in India. But the true state of affairs in this sector-the so-called Major and Medium (M&M) sector of irrigation-has been systematically and deliberately hidden from the public by India´s Ministry of Water Resources (MWR).
For decades, the Ministry has pursued a one-point programme for the expansion of this sector unmindful of its consistently disappointing record. Year after year, write-ups in the glossy Annual Reports of the Ministry have taken care to refer glowingly to the M&M sector keeping out anything which might even remotely suggest its poor state of health.