Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— (1) “alienated” means transferred in so far as the rights of the State Government to payment of rent of land revenue are concerned, wholly or partially to the ownership of any person and the expressions “alienated land” and “unalienated land’ shall be construed accordingly ; (2) “Appropriate Authority”, in relation to a canal constructed, main- tained, controlled or managed by the State Government or the Company or a Zilla Parishad, means the State Government, the Company or the Zilla Parishad respectively ; (3) “canal” includes— (a) all canals, channels, pipes, tube-wells, domestic water-supply works and reservoirs constructed, maintained or controlled by the Appropriate Authority for the supply or storage of water ; (b) all works, embankments, structures and supply and escape channels connected with such canals, channels, pipes, tube-wells, domestic water-supply works and reservoirs, and all roads constructed for the purpose of facilitating the construction or maintenance of such canals, channels, pipes, tube-wells domestic water-supply works and reservoirs ; (c) all fields-channels, water courses, drainage-works and flood embank- ments as hereinafter respectively defined or explained in this Act; (d) any part of a river (including its tributaries), stream, lake, natural collection of water or natural drainage-channel, to which the State Government may apply the provisions of section 11, or of which the water has been applied or used before the commence- ment of this Act for the purpose of any existing canal ; 1 1 For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Maharashtra Government Gazette, 1976. Part V., Pages 115-123. 2 1st January 1977, vide G.N.,I.D., No. MIA. 1076-MIG-1, dated 1st January 1977. * This indicates the date of commencement of the Act. Short title, extent and commance- ment. Definitions. (e) all land belonging to, or held by, or entrusted to, the Appropri- ate Authority which is situate on a bank of any canal as hereinbe- fore defined, and which has been appropriated under the orders of such Aprropriate Authority for the purposes of such canal ; (f) all lift irrigation works constructed, maintained or controlled by the Appropriate Authority ; (4) “Canal Officer” means any officer duly appointed by the State Government by an order in writing for all or any of the purposes of this Act specified in the order, and includes in relation to a canal constructed, maintained, controlled or managed by the Company, a Company Officer, and by a Zilla Parishad, a Parishad Officer ; and the expression “Canal Officer duly empowered in this behalf” or any like expression means a Canal Officer empowered by the Appropriate Authority by an order in writing for all or any of the purposes of this Act specified in the order and also includes a person acting under the general or special order of such Canal Officer ; (5) “canal revenue” includes all sums payable to the Appropriate Authority for the use, right to use, or waste, of water from a canal ; (6) “Collector” includes any officer appointed by the State Government to exercise all or any of the powers of a Collector under this Act ; (7) “Company” means a company owned or controlled by the State which is set up for the purpose among other things of promoting, inves- tigating, establishing, executing, installing, maintaining, managing or administering schemes for the purpose of irrigation or in relation to any irrigation project, in order to effect increase in irrigation potential and agricultural production in the State 1[and shall also include a private developer or a co-operative society registered under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act 1960, who has entered into an agreement with the State Government, for any of the said purposes] ; and the Company shall, for the purposes of this Act, function as the agent of the State Government ; (8) “Company Officer” means any Officer of the Company duly appointed by the Company by an order in writing for all or any of the purposes of this Act specified in the order ; (9) “drainage work” includes— (a) channels, either natural or artificial, for all the discharge of waste or surplus water and all works connected with or auxiliary to such channels ; (b) escape channels from a canal dams, weirs, embankments, sluices, groins and other works connected therewith ; and (c) any work in connection with a system of irrigation or reclama- tion made or improved by the Appropriate Authority for the purpose of drainage of any area including works for the disposal of effluent from the sewage disposal schemes within the command of a canal under- taken by any person duly authorised in this behalf, but does not include works for the removal of sewage from any area within the limits of any local authority ; (10) “field-channel” means a channel beyond an outlet from a point from where it runs in its own command, either constructed by the hold- ers or occupiers or constructed by the Appropriate Authority on their behalf and maintained by such holders or occupires beyond the outlet ; 1 These words, figure and letters were inserted by Mah. 19 of 2005, s. 2. 2 Maharashtra Irrigation Act, 1976 [ 1976 : Mah. XXXVIII Mah. XXIV of