MAINTENANCE OF DAMS

Responsibility for safety of dams, including their operation and maintenance, rests primarily with dam owners, which are mostly the State Governments and Central/State Public Sector Undertakings. The details of dam safety conditions, maintenance, repair and renovations, expenditure incurred on maintenance of dams are available with the concerned dam owners. Dam owners generally carry out the safety audit (through annual pre-monsoon and post-monsoon inspection) of their dams. Some States have also constituted the Dam Safety Review Panel for comprehensive audit of their dams.

Union Government has enacted the Dam Safety Act (DSA) 2021 for proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of the specified dams. The said Act has been notified by the Government of India on 14.12.2021 and has come into effect from 30.12.2021. The Act aims for preventing dam failure related disasters and provides for institutional mechanism to ensure their safe functioning.

The Act has provision for setting up empowered institutional framework for dam safety both at the Central and State level. At national level, Central Government has constituted the National Committee on Dam Safety which discharges functions to prevent dam failure related disasters and maintain standards of dam safety and evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations. Further, Central Government has also established the National Dam Safety Authority as a regulatory body for ensuring the nationwide implementation of dam safety policies and standards.

At the State level, the Act provides for the constitution of State Committee on Dam Safety (SCDS) and the establishment of the State Dam Safety Organization (SDSO) to ensure proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in that State and also to ensure their safe functioning. In compliance of provisions of the Dam Safety Act, all the 28 States and 3 Union Territories having specified dams have constituted/established the SCDSs/SDSOs.

Further, 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 or maintenance or repair works. In compliance of the provision of DSA 2021, it has been reported that 5,934 specified dams have been inspected during FY 2023-24 so far by the respective dam owners.

Dam Safety Act 2021 mandates Operation & Maintenance Manual for every specified dam and earmarking sufficient and specific funds for maintenance and repairs of the specified dams.

In order to improve the safety and operational performance of select existing dams in the country, Government of India is implementing the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) with external funding. Under the World Bank funded DRIP Phase-I scheme, which was implemented during April 2012 to March 2021, 223 existing dams located in 7 States were comprehensively audited and rehabilitated at a cost of Rs. 2,567 crore.

After completion of DRIP Phase-I Scheme, Government of India has taken up DRIP Phase-II & III scheme envisaging rehabilitation and safety improvement of 736 dams located in 19 States, with a budget outlay of Rs. 10,211 crore. The scheme is of 10 years duration, being implemented in two phases, each of 6 years duration with 2 years of overlap. Phase II of DRIP has been declared effective by the World Bank in October 2021, and is being co-financed by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank. The State/Agency wise number of proposed dams and the estimated cost under this Scheme is given at Annexure.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

ANNEXURE

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AS