A Gis-Based Parametric Analysis of Irrigational Tanks in the Oldest Civilized City in India-Madurai

Abstract The irrigational tanks being traditional Water harvesting structures designed by rulers and chieftains dating back centuries. These are constructed in such a way that they act as a major water resource in drought-prone rural communities. The main aim of this paper is to develop a GIS-based Parametric Maps of Maximum Capacity(MC), Maximum Water Level(MWL), Ayacut Area(AA), Water Spread Area(WSA), Sub-basins and Basins of irrigational Tanks which form the basic irrigation information system to assist agriculturalists, farmers, and Government organization for the proper maintenance of irrigation tanks with suitable indexing parameters, to mitigate & forecast the water and food requirements by evaluating currently available water for the given population density and irrigation lands. The study area selected is the oldest civilized city in India which is in the state of Tamilnadu-Madurai district, which is served by the Vaigai River and consists of 1338 tanks. This GIS-based information system assists the decision-makers to perform surveillance, evaluate the efficiency of the tank at any space & time and take proper managerial methods to utilize the resources economically.