In the post Independent period, India took up the task of expanding irrigation development through a number of major and medium irrigation projects all over the country to meet the food and fiber shortage of its expanding population. In a span of three to four decades, the irrigated area increased to 145 million hectares from about 25 million hectares at the time of Independence. The green revolution of the 1960's demanded large quantities of water for irrigated crops and wiped out the shortage of food, and presently the country is self sufficient and is in a position to export agriculture products. However, during the last two to three decades, there is considerable disenchantment about the irrigation projects due to the impression that they are not producing the results as expected and the output is not commensurate with the investments. The negative effects of irrigation projects are increasingly felt and there is considerable damage to ecology and environment apart from the human misery caused by the reservoir displacement of people in the villages. In addition, the reduction in forest area due to water bodies and canal systems is affecting the environment. There has been no monitoring practically of any of the projects to asses how far the expected benefits have been achieved. In the canal command areas, water logging and salinity is on the rise and the soil fertility is getting killed gradually due to application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with their increasing doses. The return to the farmers for their investments is rapidly decreasing, causing farmers' suicides all over the country, and even a state like Punjab which was a granary of grains is becoming a graveyard of farmers. This paper tries to examine as to why the irrigated areas are not producing the expected benefits and what is wrong with the irrigation water management. Further, it tries to suggest steps to be taken to improve the performance of the irrigation systems in the country.
