Context: Recently, Four sites in India have received the World Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS) tag this year.

The sites are

• Cumbum (Kambham) lake, Andhra Pradesh
• Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal, Andhra Pradesh
• Porumamilla Tank (Anantharaja Sagaram), Andhra Pradesh
• Dhamapur Lake, Maharashtra

About World Heritage Irrigation Structure

• The WHIS sites are annually recognised by International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage.
• Aim: To understand the evolution of irrigation in civilizations across the world.
• Objective:To learn from their significant achievements and gather knowledge about their unique features that have sustained the project over centuries.

Criteria for recognition
The structure should be

• More than 100 years’ old
• Functional, achieving food security
• Have archival value

International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)

• The ICID is a global network of irrigation, drainage, and flood management experts.
• It recognises irrigation structures of international significance on the lines of World Heritage Sites recognised by the UNESCO.

Key Facts

• Japan (42) has the highest number of WHIS sites followed by China (23).
• India has 6 WHIS sites.

Significance

• The recognition will provide the State governments more incentive and motivation to maintain them and ensure they are functional.

About the sites
Kambham Lake

• Kambham (or Gundlakamma Lake) is a historical water body located at Markapur in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh.
• Built on the Gundlakamma River upon Nallamalai hills, it is the second largest man-made irrigation tank in Asia.
• It was built over 500 years ago and is about 7 km long and 3.5 km wide.
• It was built by queen Varadharajamma (also known as Ruchidevi) the first wife of Sri Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara empire.

Porumamilla Lake

• The Porumamilla Lake located near Kalasapadu in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh.
• As per the Porumamilla inscription, it was built during the reign of Bhaskaradu (Bhavaduradu), the son of the first Bukkarayalu of the Vijayanagara empire, when he was the head of the Udayagiri kingdom.
• It has a history of over 500 years and extends over an area of ??3,864 acres.

KC Canal

• The Kurnool- Cuddapah Canal was constructed by the Britishers between 1863 and 1870 as an irrigation and navigation canal.
• This canal interconnects the rivers Penna and Tungabhadra.
• It presently irrigates nearly 1,70,000 acres with 40 Tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) water utilisation from the Krishna River.

Dhamapur Lake

• It is a 490-year-old Lake, in the Sindhudurg district Maharashtra.
• There are 64 streamlets that feed it and it irrigates 237-hectare land annually.
• The site was built in 1530 by villagers of Dhamapur and Kalse, Maharashtra.
• The lake remains full as it receives water throughout the year.
• The lake receives water throughout the year and remains full throughout the year.
• It is one of the top 100 wetlands in India identified by the Union Government for rapid restoration and improvement.
• It is expected to be proposed as a Ramsar site (wetland of international significance) by the Maharashtra government.
• There are 193 floral and 247 faunal species in this wetland.

Key Fact

• Earlier Pedda Cheru Tank and Sadarmat Anicut both in Telangana were named as WHIS sites in 2018.