Quantification of Negative Externalities of Irrigation Well Investment of Overexploited Firka: The Case of Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu

Aims: To study the total negative externality cost of irrigation well investment of overexploited firka.

Study Design: Purposive random sampling.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu and the survey was conducted during July 2021 and September 2021.

Methodology: The sample size selected for the study is 160 which includes farmers (80 farmers+80 farmers) from Annur and Thondamuthur firka. Four villages were selected from each firka, similarly, 20 farmers from each village were selected for the study. Market price method and damage cost method were used to estimate the externality cost of overexploited firka of Coimbatore.

Results: The total negative externality cost estimated from the analysis is Rs. 21.19 lakhs per hectare of gross cropped area (GCA). The damage cost of dried wells is dominant when compared to all other costs. The cost of increased pumping hours is very negligible.

Conclusion: Small and marginal farmers are highly affected among different the category of farmers. The externalities can be reduced by optimal extraction of groundwater which can be achieved by monitoring done by the formal and informal institutions.