Provincial Geographies of India/Volume 4/Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVII
CANALS AND EMBANKMENTS
(I) Canals
Navigation. For navigation, the only important artificial waterway is the Twante canal, which rims for 22 miles from the Rangoon River by way of the Kanaungto creek to the Irrawaddy at Twante. When first constructed it was practicable only by boats and shallow-draught launches with which, in the busy season, it was overcrowded. Recently it has been deepened and widened; now its breadth is 300 feet, except at the chord cut from the Kanaungto creek to the Rangoon river which has a breadth of only 180 feet; and its depth is 6 feet below the level of ordinary Spring tides. Except the largest steamers all river craft adopt this alternative route instead of the Bassein creek[1]. Tolls are levied on all vessels using this canal. In 1920–21, the gross revenue amounted to £53,350.
In the Pegu district, the Pegu-Sittaing canal connects the Pegu and Sittaing rivers. A small canal in Thatôn, from the Sittang to the town of Kyaikto, as already noted, has been ruined by the bore of the Sittang. In Mandalay the Obo canal may also be mentioned.
Irrigation. From time immemorial, the dry tracts of Upper Burma have been watered by irrigation systems planned by native engineers, often with considerable ingenuity. Under the slack rule of Burmese kings many of these decayed or deteriorated. Very soon after the annexation, the attention of highly skilled officers of the Indian Irrigation Department was devoted to the improvement of native systems and the initiation of fresh projects on scientific lines. The Mandalay canal was first completed.
Fig. 63. The Obo canal.
Thirty-nine miles in length, constructed at the cost of £570,000 and finished in the year 1902, it waters an area of 62,000 acres and returns annually 6 per cent, on the capital outlay.
The Shwebo canal, which draws its supplies from the Mu river, has converted 170,000 acres of Shwebo from dry desert to fertile rice fields. It cost £600,000, and its annual return is 8.3 per cent. The Ye-u canal is under construction on the right bank of the Mu and was partly opened in 1918–19. It will irrigate 109,000 acres at the cost of £572,300.
In Minbu the Môn, Man, and Salin canals have been completed, with much difficulty, at the cost of £566,800, and have brought under cultivation some 60,000 acres. Most, if not all, of these projects are based on old native works, vastly improved.
The total area irrigated from major canals in 1920–21 was 329,000 acres producing crops estimated in value at £1,275,000.
Many minor irrigation works have been adapted from Burmese originals. Of these, the most important is the network of canals in Kyauksè by which almost the whole district is watered. It has not been found practicable to utilize the Irrawaddy or the Chindwin for irrigation on a large scale.
Formerly the dry districts of Upper Burma were subject to recurring seasons of scarcity. In Shwebo, for instance, in about one year in three, the rains failed and the able-bodied population migrated for field work to the rich plains of Lower Burma, sending due part of their earnings for the support of their families left behind. But the Burman clings to his home and back went the migrants after harvest, hoping for a better season next year. Now, in most of the arid tracts, irrigation, extension of dry cultivation, and improved communications have dispelled fear of famine.
(II) Embankments
Embankments. On the right bank of the Irrawaddy a series of embankments has been constructed for the protection of culturable land from floods caused by the rise of the river in the rains. Starting from Kyangin, the embankments run past Myanaung and Henzada to the mouth of the Pantanaw creek in Ma-u-bin for 122 miles. Other embankments, nearly 80 and 40 miles respectively in length protect Ma-u-bin and Thôngwa Islands. On Ma-u-bin Island alone the protected area is over 120,000 acres. Along the Nagwun (Bassein) river runs yet another embankment for 76 miles. These works bring under cultivation a large expanse of rich rice land to the estimated extent of over 800,000 acres yielding a great return to the people in crops and to Government in revenue. The value of the rice crop on the reclaimed area was estimated in 1920–21 at £3,300,000. Yandoon Island is to be protected by an embankment estimated to cost £103,870, to reclaim 70,000 acres, and to yield a return of 12 per cent.
After long discussion, it was decided many years ago not to embank the left bank of the Irrawaddy, the effect of confining on both sides so large a river being feared. Lately this question has been re-opened and a project for protecting the left bank has been sanctioned. This work is expected to cost £620,000, to safeguard 500,000 acres, and to yield 20 per cent, on the outlay. A similar scheme, the Gyaing-Ataran-Salween embankment and reclamation, near Moulmein, is under consideration.
- ↑ See p. 27.