GIS Enhances Pipeline Design for Lower Suktel Irrigation

In India’s Odisha state, the region faced a critical water emergency due to climate change, over-extraction, and underdeveloped infrastructure. In 2024, the completion of the Lower Suktel Irrigation Project, led by L&T Construction, India’s largest construction company, provided a vital solution. The project aimed to install a micro-lift irrigation system, which uses low-pressure water delivery and a lifting mechanism to overcome elevation differences. This system ensures precise and water-saving irrigation over 27,000 hectares of cultivable land. It employs an advanced underground pipeline network and automated control mechanisms to promote efficient and equitable water distribution to the intended agricultural areas.

The project’s success was largely due to the use of geographic information system (GIS) technologies. GIS was used to plan, design, and manage the project, ensuring the irrigation system was well designed and cost-effective while automating various tasks.

According to Daniel Chantlos, senior solution engineer for AEC at Esri, “The Lower Suktel Irrigation Project set a new standard for irrigation project planning in the region. By using GIS, we demonstrated how technology can transform traditional practices and bring about sustainable solutions.”
 

With any water irrigation plan, chak planning is the first step. This involves dividing a command area (the land served by an irrigation outlet) into smaller, manageable units called chaks for efficient water distribution and management. Traditionally, creating layouts for chaks requires significant manual effort using tools like AutoCAD and Excel. This process involves merging land records manually, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors.

But this is where adoption of GIS can help. The project team used ArcGIS Pro, a powerful desktop GIS that helps manage spatial data, perform advanced mapping, and create detailed visualizations. For example, ModelBuilder, a visual programming tool, has cut the time needed for chak planning by about 50 percent and reduced errors. Reliable and timely irrigation water supply is essential for maximizing agricultural production within a command area. A well-planned water delivery system is vital to ensure the efficient functioning of the irrigation network.

To achieve an efficient irrigation network, the project team used the Cost Path tool in ArcGIS Pro for distribution network routing—the planning and design of the pipes, canals, or other infrastructure that carries water from the source to the fields or areas to be irrigated. 

By conducting a least-cost path analysis (LCPA), the project team was able to create a preliminary distribution pipeline network. This tool is a breakthrough in pipeline distribution design. LCPA creates an optimized distribution pipeline network, ensuring water is delivered through the most efficient and cost-effective routes. 

“The use of ArcGIS Pro for the Lower Suktel Irrigation Project streamlined the pipeline network design process, reduced manual effort and time while also potentially reducing errors,” said Dr. Rajesh Kumar, head-digital, III SBG-WET IC, L&T Construction. 

The zonal statistics tool in ArcGIS Pro also helped the project team place sub-chak outlets and locate the outlet management system (OMS) or outlet control system (OCS) efficiently. By identifying the highest elevation point in a chak, the tool ensures that water flows smoothly using gravity, making distribution more effective.

The project team created an in-house toolset that uses data to route pipelines from the OCS to sub-chak outlets for all chaks. Microdisnet, which handles the pipeline routing from the OCS to each chak’s outlet, makes sure the pipelines are laid out efficiently. This improves the water distribution system. By automating this process, L&T Construction has cut costs, reduced manual work, and minimized errors, making the irrigation network more efficient and reliable.
 

The integration of GIS technology in the Lower Suktel Irrigation Project has revolutionized the way layouts are created, designs are executed, and progress is monitored.

For example, the project team automated layout generation by using map series in ArcGIS Pro. With this tool, they could update layouts for command maps, index maps, and schematic maps. The layout preparation in ArcGIS is object based and any changes in the design can be seamlessly updated in the entire database. This ensures consistency across multiple maps, making the process more efficient.

The project team developed a dashboard using ArcGIS Online, which published all design data, including pipeline details, fittings, OMS, and outlets on the web. This allowed site engineers to easily visualize the data and design details directly from the dashboard, enhancing execution. 

L&T’s staff and construction teams used these dashboards to monitor the project’s progress. They could visually track and analyze various data types across different locations in near real time. This provided the team with up-to-date insights, enabling them to make well-informed decisions based on the most current information.

Overall, lift irrigation projects have emerged as a popular solution for supplying water to agricultural lands at elevations higher than the source of water. Using GIS technology has proven to be a game changer for these projects in how they are approached, designed, and managed. The Lower Suktel Irrigation Project stands as a testament to the potential of GIS in transforming agricultural irrigation systems.