Lectures on the Ancient System of Irrigation in Bengal

The genius of Bliagirath showed itself in the way he de- cided to mingle in the fields of standing rice, the fertilising and health-giving waters of the rivers in flood with the poor water of the monsoon rainfall. [...] When the Bengali:: began the physical conquest of the delta, the valley occupied by Mur- shidabad, Nadia and northern Faridpur had been filled up, and the Ganges could be led southwards if skilfully handled: One of the first great public works appears to have been the taking of the peren- nial waters of the sacred Ganges to a very sacred shrine on the main stream of the old Damodar, by the Bhagira [...] That the Damodar has been turned out of its delta is confirmed by the fact that in going down the left bank of the Damodar of to-day, one finds oneself, south of . Tamalpur, out of the delta of the Damodar, with the river itself up in the air. [...] Though the Mahratta-Afghan wars had thoroughly disorganized the more difficult irrigation on the Ganges, the easier irrigation on the Damodar had held its own; and here we see the two tracts on the Damodar and in Tanjore both en- joying the " overflow irrigation " of the Bengal Kings, classed as the two most productive tracts in the whole of India. [...] The Report of this Committee is quoted freely in The States- man " of the 27th November, 1928, and I quote from " The Statesman : (1) " That the embankment system is at the bottom of their troubles, is, the Com- mittee has found, fully realized by the people of Orissa, and one of the most insistent demands made to the Commit- tee by the inhabitants of the semi-pro- tected and un-protected areas i