ABSTRACT
In any study of the economic impact of Britain on India considerable attention must be given to the remarkable British achievement in irrigation and agriculture. The first great British irrigation work in India was the construction in 1836 by Sir Arthur Cotton of a new anicut which diverted a large volume into the Cauvery and away from the Coleroon. More impressive is the statement that in 1947 nearly seventy million acres of land in undivided India were irrigated. Not all the irrigation works included in the capital expenditure either were, or were intended to be, productive. There are areas where the danger of famine is so great that irrigation had to be undertaken as a protection against famine irrespective of the probable yield from water rates. Irrigation is a commercially paying proposition to the various governments is a sure testimony to the wise planning and efficient construction that have characterised the work of the department.
