Kerala act 020 of 1967 : The Kerala Irrigation Works (Execution by Joint Labour) Act, 1967 (No.20 of 1967)

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91

THE KERALA IRRIGATION WORKS

(EXECUTION

BY

JOINT

LABOUR)

ACT,

1967

(Act ^20of

1967)

CONTENTS

Preamble. Sections

1. Short title and extent.

2.

Definitions.

3.

Procedure on

failure to

contribute

cost or

labour for

work to be

done

by joint

labour. 4-.

Dewatering,

etc.,

of

Padasekliaram.

5. Work ^not

to be

executed

if

majority

of

proprietors

do not want the work to

be executed.

6. Powers of

District

Collector,

Punja

Special

Officer and officer authorised under section 3 or 4-.

7.

Appeal.

8. Revision.

9.

Recovery

of

money.

10.

Protection of action

taken in

good

faith.

11. Officers ^andpersons

performing

functions

under the Act to

be public

servants.

12. Power to make

rules.

13. Amendment of

Travancore—Cochin

Act,

1956

(VII

of

1956).

__

THE KERALA

IRRIGATION WORKS

(EXECUTION

BY

JOINT LABOUR) ^ACT,

1967* (Act ^{20 of}

1967)

An Act^to

providcfar

faczlitating

the execution

of

certain

war/tr

connected

with imgatzon,

flood-control ^or

drainage for purposes of agncullure, ^to be done

by

the

fault

labour

of

cultwatarr,

in the State

of

Kerala. Preamble.-—WHEREAS it is

expedient ^to

provide

for

facilitating

the execution of certain works

connected

wrth

irrigation,

flood-control^or drainage ^for

purposes ^of

agriculture, ^{tobe done by the}

joint

labour^of cultivators, ^intheState^ofKerala^; '

Publishedin

the Kerala Gazette

Extraordinary

No.

174,

dated 4th

September,

1967.

92

BE it enacted ⁱⁿ

the

Eighteenth ^Year

of the

Republic

of India as follows ^:— l. Short title and extent

—(l)

This Act may be

called the Kerala Irrigation

Works

(Execution ^{by jomt}Labour) ^Act,

1967.

(2) ^It

extends ^tothe

whole^ofthe

State ^of

Kerala.

2.

Definmons.—In

this

Act,

unless the context otlierWise requires,—

(a)

"maJority ^of

proprietors

"

means

the

proprietors

of

more than

one-halfol^a

padasekhaiam

; (b)

"padasekharam

"

means collection of

paddy

fields conti- guously

Situated,

whether owned ^{by one}

peison ^{ortwoor more}

persons, (r)

"

prescribed"

means

prescribed by

rules^madeunder^this Act ;

(d)

"

proprietor

"

means

the owner of any

paddy

field in

a padasekharam ^andincludes^thecultivator^or

personⁱⁿactual

possession of such field ; (e)

"

Punja Special

Officer

"

means an officer

appointed by

the Government ^toamuse^the

powers^and

discharge ^theduties ofa

Punja Special

Officer under^thisAct; (f)

"weik" includes^the

putting^upofring

bunds ^and

drainage of

water.

3. Procedure ^on

failure ^tocontribute ^{cost or}

labour

for

work ^to

be

done

by mint

labour. —(1)

Whenever,

by

local custom ^orfor

other

good

reason, any work connected

With

irrigation ^or

drainage

for purposes of

agricul- ture in ^a

padasekhararn

should be done

by

the

joint

labour or cast of the

proprietors

of all the fields benefited

by

such

work,

if

any

such proprietor

fails^or

neglects ^todohisshare^oftheworkor

contribute ^his share of the^costor

labour,

it shall be lawful for the

District

Collector, the Pun ja

Special

Officer ^or

any other

officer

authorised

by

the Govern- ment in

this

behalf, ^onthe

application

of one or more of the

proprietors interested ^insuchworkor

injuied ^or

likely ^{to be}

injured by

such failure or

neglect,

to

investigate

the matter and pass such order as

he deems fit, ^andhemay

by ^such

order^also

direct^the

defaulting proprietor ^to execute

any portion

of the work^or

pay any portion

of

the cost

of the work.

(2) ^Ifan

order under sub-section

(1)

directs^{that the}

defaulting proprietor

shall execute ^a

portion ^{of the}

work, ^it

shall

distinctly speCify the

portion

of the work to

be

executed,

the time within which it should be

done,

and ^the

estimate of the cost of such work

prepaied

in such manner as

may be

prescribed.

(3) ^Onthe

defaulting proprietor

refusing ^or

failing ^to

execute such ^workWithin^thetimefixed^{in the}

order,

the work may be

executed under ^theorder^oftheDistrict

Collector,

the

Punja Schial

Officer or

1,

93

such

other officer authorised ^as

aforesaid,

and the^costthereof may he recovered from such defaulter.

4.

Dewaterzng,

etc.,

of padasekhamm.—(l)

Whenever ^oneormore of the

proprietors ^of'a

pailasekharam

applies ^or

apply ^totheDistrict Collector, ^the

Punja Special

Officer ^or

any other olhcer authorised

by the

Government ^inthis

behalf, ^to

arrange^for

dewateringthat pada- sekharam for

the purpose of

paddy

cultivation,

it shall be lawful for the District

Collector, ^the

Punja Special

Officer^{or such}other officer^to arrange the

dewatering

of such

padasekharam

and^torecovr-r the^cost thereof ^fromallthe

proprietors.

(2) ^TheDistrict

Collector, ^the

Punja Special

Officer ^or

other officer

arranging ^the

dewatering ^ofany padasekharam

under^sub- section

(1) ^or

any

person ^or

persons authorised

by ^himtoexecute

such dewatering

shall,

notwithstanding anything

containedⁱⁿany other^law for the time

being ⁱⁿ

force, ^havepower ^toenter

upon any land and instal any machinery ^forthepurpose ^of

such

dewateiing

and to execute any temporary

work incidental thereto.

(3) ^Whenanyportion ^{of the bund in any}padasekharnm ^hasnot been constructed ^or

repaired

properly, ^itshall^be

lawful for ^the

District Collector, ^the

Punja Special

Officer^or

any other ofliccr author

isrrl

by the Government ⁱⁿ

this behalf^to

carry ^outthe

construction or

repair and ^torecover the^costthereof

from

the

proprietors

liable to

carry

out such

construction^or

repair.

(4)

Whenever cultivation^{in any}patlasekhararn ^orinanyfield in any such

padasekharam

is

likely ^tobe afleetetl

due^towant of

proper irrigation ^or

drainage

facrhties, ^the

District

Collector, ^the

Punja Spreral Officer ^or

any other officer authorised

by ^theGovernrr^cutin this

behalf, shall ^havepower ^to

arrange ^toexecute

any

temporary

works^forremoval of obstruction ^to

existing

vachals,

devmtion^of

vachals,

provisron

for new vachals or such other

temporary

works^asare

rretessary

to

irrigate or drain

the

padasekharam ^or

the field.

(5) ^TheDistrict

Collector, ^the

l'unja Special

Officer^orother officer arranging

any

temporary ^workunder

sub-section

('1) ^or

any person ^or

persons authorised

by ^suchOllKCl^toexecute such^Work

shall, notwrthstanding anything

containedⁱⁿ

any other ^{law forthetime}

being in

force, ^have

power ^to

enter

upon

any land^andtodo

such work.

(6) ^Thecostincurred ^{for theam}

ution^ofany

temporary ^work under

sub-section

(4)

shall ^be

recoverable^fromthe

parties

liahle ^to

do such

work.

5. l/Vork ^{not to}be executed

zf

majority

(if/imprzetars

do^notwant

the

work to be

executed.—Notwithstanding anything

containedⁱⁿ

sections 3 and

4,

the

District

Collector, ^the

Punja Specml

Officer ^{or the}officer

authorised by ^theGovernment

shall ^notexecute ^anyworkunder ^thesaid

sections, if ^the

majority ^{of the}

proprietors ^tobe

benefited

by ^thework

intimate

94

the District

Collector,

the

Punja

Special

Officer

or the

ofl'icer

autho- rised, ⁱⁿ

writing, ^that

they ^{donotwantthe work tobe}

executed.

6.

Powers

of

District

Collector,

Punja

Special

Oflicer

and

offim'

autho- rised under nation 3 or

4.—-The

District

Collector,

the

Punja Special Officer ^or

any officer authorised

by ^the

Government

under section ^3or section 4 may.

subject

to

the

provisions

of section

5,

exercise

such powers and

perform

such

duties^as

may be

prescribed

for the collective benefit ^ofthe

majority ^of

proprietors ⁱⁿmatters connected^with irrigation.

7.

zipped—Any person aggrieved

by any order of the District Collector, ^the

Punja Special

Officer ^or

any officer authorised

by ^the Government under

section ^3or

section ⁴

may, Within^suchtimeas

may be

prescribed, appeal

to^the

Government,

or to

any ofliCer

specially authorised

by

the Government^inthis

behalf

by

notification ^inthe Gazette,

against any^such

order, ^andtheGovernment ^{or such}other officer, ^{as thecase}

may be, may thereupon pass^suchorders ^as

they ^or he think or thinks

just

and

reasonable,

after

giving

notice ^to

the

party afi'ected and

hearing

him, ^if

he appears.

8.

Revision.—It

shall

be

lawful for the Government to revise any order of^theDistrict

Collector, ^the

Punja

Special

Officer^{or an}officer authorised

by ^theGovernment under section^3orsection^4or

any order of

the

officer

specially

authorised

under section⁷

and to

pass such orders ^{asare in}their

opinion just ^and

reasonable,

after

giving

notice ^to the

party

affected^and

hearing

him, ^{if he}appears.

9.

Recovery ofmoney—Without prejudice ^to

any other

mode of recovery, ^{any sum}of money

payable

under the

provisions

of this Act may be recovered from the

defaulting

proprietor ^asarrears^of

public revenue due^onland under

the

provisions

of the

Revenue

Recovery

Act for the time

being ⁱⁿ

force.

10.

Protection

ofaotion

taken in

good

faith—(I)

No

suit,

prosecution or

other

legal proceedings

shall lie

against

the

Government

or

any oflicn or

person

performing any functionsⁱⁿthe

implementation

of

the provisions ^{of this Act, for}

anything

which^isin

good

faith^doneor intended to^be

done ⁱⁿpursuance of any^of

the

provisions

of this Act

or any ^{rule or}

order ^made

thereunder.

(2) ^{No suitor}other

legal proceedings

shall ^lie

against ^the Government ^or

any officer ^or

person

performing

any functions in the implementation ^ofthe

provisions ^{ofthis Act, for}any

damage

caused ^or likely ^tobe

caused

by

anything

which ^isin

good

faith^doneorintended to be done

in pursuance of any of

the

provisions

of this Act or

any rule or

order

made

thereunder.

11.

Officer:

and

person:

[zerfbrming function:

under the

Act

to be

public :ervant:.—Any

officer^or

person

performing any functions ^inthe

imple- mentation ^of

this Act shall be

deemed to be a

public

95

12. Power^tomake

rule:.—-(l)

The

Government may, by

notifica- tion ⁱⁿthe

Gazette,

make rules to

carry

out

the purposes of

this

Act.

(2) Every ^rulemadeunder^thisAct

shall ^{helaidassoonas}

may be after it

is made before the

Legislative

Assembly

while it is in

session for ^a

total

period

of fourteen

days

which may^be

comprised ⁱⁿone session or^intwo

successive

sessions, ^and

if,

before^the

expiry ^of

the session in which^itis so laid or^thesession

immediately

following,

the Legislative

Assembly

makes^anymodification^{in theruleor}

decides^that the

rule

should not be

made, ^theruleshall

thereafter ^have

effect

only in such modified^formor be^{of no}

effect, ^asthecase

may be; ^sohow- ever that any such

modification ^orannulment

shall be

without

prejudice to

the

validity

of

anything previously

done under

that

rule.

13. Amendment

qf

Travancorc-Cochin ^ActVII

of

1956.—Section ^40A of the Travancore-Cochin

Irrigation

Act,

1956

(VII

of

1956),

shall be omitted.