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as the southern arid region, occupying the central portion of 
India from Nassick to Cape Comorin ! 
In regions having a rainfall of between 30 and 60 inches, 
such as the upper part of the valley of the Ganges and the 
eastern coast of the Madras Presidency, irrigation is often 
needed, and great distress has been caused by the want of it. 
Where the rainfall is between 60 and 75 inches, as in the 
deltas of the Mahanuddi and lower part of the Gangetic 
valley, irrigation is looked on as a luxury — often useful, but 
not necessary, except in exceptional years. There are two 
belts of excessive rainfall — the coast of Aracan, extending 
from the Irrawaddy to the valley of the Brahmapootra ; and the 
west coast of India ; where the need for irrigation never exists. 
In those wet belts, where a superabundance of rain falls, 
embankments are necessary to preserve the crops and villages 
from destructive floods ; whilst the maintenance of the river 
embankments in Lower Bengal is an important part of the 
duties of the Irrigation Department; for the cultivation of the 
land is entirely dependent on their efficiency. This, however, 
is the result of the land lying below the flood level of the river 
rather than the excessive rainfall. There are upwards of 
2,000 miles of such embankments in Bengal, under the 
charge of the Irrigation Department, kept up by the State. 
Mr. Bateman alluded to artificial irrigation in Ceylon and 
India, and to the great works that had been constructed in 
past ages for the purpose, many of which had fallen into dis- 
repair and disuse ; and he mentioned the canals that have 
been constructed by the British Government with the view of 
irrigating those tracts where the natural rain supply is deficient 
during the whole year, or where it is so partial that it fails to 
supply the needs of cultivation, and he contrasted the condi- 
tion of a country so situated with our own more favoured 
islands, where drought is infrequent. 
The Government of India has given much attention, of late 
years, to artificial irrigation for those districts that are most 
in need of it, and many gigantic works have been completed, 
whilst others are in course of construction for this purpose ; 
some are altogether new, others are the reconstruction on 
former lines of old works of the Hindoo and Mahomedan 
periods, and the importance they must have attached to irri- 
gation is manifested in the canals, anicuts or dams of rivers 
and reservoirs, many in ruins, left by them. It would be im- 
possible for me now to give a detailed description of the 
irrigation works, ancient or modern, in use in India. I can 
merely give a general sketch of the great canal system actually 
in existence, supported and carried on 1 by Government. 
About sixty years ago the British Government seriously 
