By reviewing the implementation of the Dam Safety Act, 2021 and approving various initiatives to improve dam surveillance, security, risk assessment, and emergency preparedness, India has taken another major step towards bolstering the safety of its vital water infrastructure. This was done at the 12th Meeting of the National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS). To expedite compliance with the Act on a national level, leaders from several federal ministries, state governments, state dam safety organisations, and technical experts gathered in a meeting in New Delhi presided over by the Chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC).
While discussing the matter, the Committee stressed the importance of completing all designated dams’ CDSEs, EAPs, O&M manuals, reservoir rule curves, and risk assessment studies as soon as possible. To reduce disaster risks, safeguard downstream populations, and ensure the long-term sustainability of India’s water infrastructure, members agreed that enhancing these vital safety measures is essential.
The agreement to handle rising risks to critical infrastructure by developing new regulations on surveillance and security of specific dams was a major outcome of the meeting. The Committee also addressed reservoir sedimentation, accreditation of agencies, revised technical recommendations to improve monitoring, maintenance, and operational safety nationwide, procedures for reporting dam failures, and hazard classification of dams.
The Committee looked at reports on recent dam failures, such as those at the Chhattisgarh’s Luti Tank and Rajadera dams, Sikkim’s Teesta Stage-III Dam, Punjab’s Madhopur Barrage, and Rajasthan’s Bisalpur Dam reservoir dredging project. Engineering techniques going forward will be better equipped to handle emergencies, and policies on dam safety management will be founded on evidence thanks to the lessons learned from these incidents.
The Committee recommended that dam owners, in order to strengthen their institutions over the long run, maintain their support for engineers’ participation in the specialist postgraduate programs at IIT Roorkee and IISc Bengaluru, and to forge stronger alliances with institutions like as IIT Guwahati, NIT Surat, NIT Calicut, NIT Nagpur, and NIT Shillong. The program’s overarching goal is to train workers to adhere to the Dam Safety Act of 2021 and to use cutting-edge methods for dam safety.
Image: PIB
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