Sushanta Kumar Mahapatra - Research Scholar, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), No-۷۹, Second Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, Chennai-۶۰۰ ۰۲۰ (Tamil Nadu), India

Main motivations of this paper is to examine the functioning and otherwise of Water User Association (WUA) or Pani Panchayat promoted by the State and the local traditional irrigation institutions and to evaluate their functioning & characteristics in the context of local water management in the Hirakud Command Area (HCA), of Orissa state in Eastern India. The specific objectives are; (1) to contrast the formal and informal institutions in terms of their formation, performance and success, (2) to examine about the peoples participation and their liveliness, (3) to recommend policy interventions to make the formal institutions more successful. The paper concludes that the Pani Panchayat as regulatory institutions in charge of water distribution on equitable basis, their performance has been reasonably weak and unsuccessful. Even though Pani Panchayat has been initiated and endorsed in the State for more than a couple of years, the acceptance of the model have been lethargic and scattered.

Common Property Resource, Farmer Managed Irrigation System, Formal & Informal Irrigation Institutions, Orissa, India, Pani Panchayat, Participatory Irrigation Management, Water User Association, Water Management