Section 35A in Bihar Private Irrigation Works Act, 1922
35A. [ Execution of work and its maintenance and recovery of cost. [Inserted by Act 10 of 1939.]
(1)Subject to such special or general orders as may, from time, to time, be issued by the State Government, the Collector shall, in any case in which he takes action under Section 32A or 32B, cause the construction, alteration or repair, as the case may be, of any irrigation work to be carried out in such manner and through such agency, as he considers proper.(2)Upon the completion of the construction, alteration, extension or repair of the irrigation work, the Collector shall, after making the prescribed inquiry and giving the prescribed notice, apportion the costs incurred therein (including the cost incurred in acquiring any irrigation work or any land under Section 32A or 32B) to such person or among such persons whether landlords or tenants, in such proportions as may seem to him to be fair and equitable; and in making such apportion the Collector shall have regard to the benefit resulting or likely to result from the irrigation work and any other consideration which, in the circumstances of the case, he may consider it fair and equitable to take into account.(3)When any apportionment has been made under sub-section (2), the Collector shall make an award containing the particulars specified in clauses(a), (b), (c) and (d) of sub-section (1) of Section 11 and cause a copy of such award, together with a general notice stating that the amounts apportioned are payable to the Collector, to be published in the prescribed manner in the village in which the lands benefited or likely to benefited by the irrigation work are situated:Provided that instead of, or in addition to, causing a general notice to be served, the Collector may cause special notices to be served in the prescribed manner on all or any of the persons to whom any sum has been apportioned:[Provided that the State Government may remit the whole or any part of the amounts payable by any class or classes of persons.](3A)The provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3) shall not apply to cases where such percentage of the cost of any work as may be fixed by the State Government is contributed by the agency referred to in sub-section (1) either in cash or in materials or by way of labour, or partly in cash, partly in materials and partly by way of labour; but in such cases the State Government shall contribute the balance of the cost in such instalments as may be prescribed:Provided that in the event of the stoppage of the contributions by the agency referred to in sub-section (1) while the work is in progress the State Government may have the work executed at their own cost and have the cost apportioned and recovered in accordance with the provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3).](4)Any sum payable under sub-section (3) shall be recoverable as a [public demand] [For the recovery of public demands, see the B. & O. Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914 (B.& O. Act 4 of 1914).] payable to the Collector.(5)Upon the completion of the construction, alteration, extension or repair of the irrigation work, the Collector may make an order that the maintenance of such work shall, as from the date of the order, vest in any of the following village agencies, namely. -(i)a panchayat of not less than five nor more than nine persons (including one person to represent the interests of the area which is, or is likely to be, irrigated from, the irrigation work) to be selected by him from those interested in the maintenance of the said work;(ii)a co-operative society whose membership is confined to the village or villages in which the area irrigated or likely to be irrigated is situated;(iii)a village panchayat or similar body constituted under any law for the time being in force and having jurisdiction over the area irrigated or likely to be irrigated from the said work or, if there is more than one village panchayat or similar body having jurisdiction over such area, to the village panchayat or similar body having jurisdiction over the major portion of the area; or(iv)a village headman:Provided that if the maintenance of the work is vested in any of the agencies specified in clauses (ii) and (iii), the Collector shall nominate a person to represent the landlords of the area which is, or is likely to be, irrigated from the said work and such person shall, for the purposes of this Chapter, be deemed to be a member of such agency.(6)The order shall further specify the area benefited or likely to be benefited by the said work and the principles on which the cost of maintenance shall be levied and, where the degree of benefit varies throughout the area, shall state the proportion of the cost of maintenance to be borne by each portion of the said area.(7)The Collector may from time to time vary or cancel any such order.
