Question : Repairing of Dams

(a) whether the Government has noticed and identified the old dams across the country which are in a bad condition and if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
(b) whether the Government has any centralized mechanism to monitor and address these issues and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has received any representations/requests about several dams including Mullaperiyar dam and if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon;
(d) the steps taken/to be taken to repair and strengthen each weak, dilapidated and old dam in the country; and
(e) the steps taken to save the life and livelihood of people living on the banks of such dams?

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) to (d) Safety of dams including dam operation, rehabilitation and maintenance rests primarily with dam owners which are generally State Governments, Central and State power generating PSUs, Municipalities and private companies etc. In order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR) provides technical and financial assistance through various schemes and programmes such as Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Programme (DRIP).

Dam owners generally carry out pre-monsoon and post-monsoon inspections of their dams to identify deficiencies or areas that need monitoring or immediate attention.
Union Government constituted National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) headed by Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC) and representatives from State Governments and PSUs. 38 meetings of NCDS have been conducted so far. The objectives/mandates of NCDS are:
i) To oversee dam Safety activities in various States and suggest improvements to bring these in line with the latest state-of-art consistently with Indian conditions.
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ii) To act as a forum of exchange of views on techniques adopted for remedial measures to relieve distress.
iii) To monitor the follow-up action on the report on Dam Safety Procedure.
iv) To recommend any other measures connected with dam Safety.
DRIP, a World Bank funded project was started in April 2012 and scheduled to be completed in June 2020 for the rehabilitation of about 198 dam projects from the point of view of safety across the seven States of India, namely Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand (Damodar Valley Corporation), and Uttarakhand (Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd).
MoWR, RD & GR invited the proposals from State Governments as well as central Agencies in 2017 for 2nd phase of Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Programme (DRIP-II). 18 States and 2 Central Agencies submitted the proposals for inclusion of 719 dams at an estimated cost of Rs. 10220 Crore.
On the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court in its judgement dated 11.01.2018 in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 878 of 2017, Ministry of Home Affairs constituted the Sub Committee of National Executive Committee (NEC) under Chairmanship of Secretary, (WR, RD & GR) to monitor the measures for ensuring high level of preparedness to face any disaster in relation to Mullaperiyar Dam.
(e) Under DRIP, in addition to physical rehabilitation of dams and its appurtenances, various other steps have been taken, to ensure safety of downstream population, property and environment which include preparation of Emergency Action Plans for all dams, Operation and Maintenance Manuals for selected dams, development of Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application (DHARMA) a web based asset management tool, development of Seismic Hazard Assessment Information System to enhance the seismic preparedness of Country.

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