Tank irrigation is popular in the peninsular plateau area mainly because of following reasons:

♤ The undulating relief and hard rock’s make it difficult to dig canals and wells.

♤ There is little percolation of rain water due to hard rock structure and ground water is not available in large quantity.

♤ Most of the rivers of this region are seasonal and dry up in summer season. Therefore, they cannot supply water to canals throughout the year.

♤ There are several streams which become torrential during rainy season. The only way to make best use of this water is to impound it by constructing bunds and building tanks. Otherwise this water would go waste to the sea.

♤ The scattered nature of population and agricultural fields also favours tank irrigation.