valuations suggest that the Barind system is regularly monitored and vigorously managed. The BMDA offcials daily collect used coupons and monitor meters to record pump usage and tally it with electricity meter readings to minimise malpractice.
The revenues earned are used for O&M and for expanding the system.
Studies suggest that this system is fnancially self-sustaining. It serves 600,000 ha of farm land and is a major improvement over the pre-1985 situation when private shallow tubewell owners controlled the landscape.
The farmer pays the irrigation cost of BDT600–800/bigha23, which is a fraction of that previously paid by farmers to private shallow tubewell owners.