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The concept of 'sustainable development' is an integrating idea, and a bridge between conservation and development. This article highlights the use of sustainability indices for evaluating and comparing the water management practices with respect to their sustainability in the sub-basin of the Aliyar interstate irrigation project catering to the irrigation requirements of two southern states of India. An attempt has been made to assess the reliability, resilience, vulnerability and overall sustainability of the total Aliyar sub-basin as the major system, two main canals as one sub-system, five anicuts (regulators) as another sub-system, and the downstream reach catering to the irrigation in the Chitturpuzha Project (CPP) as the third sub-system. The Aliyar project caters to the irrigation water requirement of the semi-arid region of Tamil Nadu State and the humid tropic region of Kerala State. Water shortage is often encountered for irrigation and this leads to interstate water conflicts. The present study is intended to provide general guidelines for the efficient operation of the major system and sub-systems based on a sustainability analysis, comparison of sustainability of different systems, and the decadal performance of the systems. The study is expected to serve as a guideline for similar studies in other command areas aiming at efficient utilisation of water from irrigation projects constructed using public funds.

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