Tank systems are not only engineering systems but also a management system. As like as the engineering aspects of the tanks management systems are also elaborate. One component of the management is the managers who are called Neerkatti, Neeranikkan,Neerghanti, Kambukatti in different parts of south India. Their existence is claimed to be dating back to 7 th century A.D as evidenced from the epigraphic inscriptions found in many parts of Tamilnadu.
Each tank had one or more such water managers called Neerkattis. There are no accurate estimates as to how many Neerkatti would have been involved in such tank management functions. There are an estimated number of around 4,000 Neerkattis work in Gundar Basin which constitutes around 4.3 % of the Geographical area of Tamilnadu. The particular basin is one of the dry areas measuring around 5,500sq km of geographical area with around 2,500 small and big tanks. They are still working in the tanks providing irrigation and other services for the dependent communities.
A reasonable guess would be that the state of Tamilnadu may have around 100,000 Neerkattis involved in the water management functions.The Neerkattis had several functions to perform ranging from supply of water to every farmer at the farm level to safeguarding the tank structures from all natural and man-made calamities.
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