Through a notification issued on July 23, 2001, the Maharashtra government has made the participatory irrigation management programme compulsory. Its salient features are as follows:

• The farmers' cooperatives will take up all irrigation work, including dam construction and maintenance

• They will choose their chairperson

• The farmers would take care of the water account

• Water will be distributed to the farmers on a volumetric basis rather than allotment of an area-wise quota

• The notification lifts the restriction on the choice of crops. There will be a sanctioned quota of water for each crop, which may be released on the basis of the crop selected