NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel has expressed concerns over the safety of aging dams in the country, saying there are 234 functional large dams in India which are more than 100 years old – some of them over 300 years old – but so far none of these dams have been decommissioned.
Dam decommissioning is a very long process which includes removal of hydro-electric generation facilities and recontouring of river channels through ecologically viable interventions in the catchment areas. Since dams have a life span, few countries, including the US, have decommissioned their dams and restored the natural flow of rivers.
Though the dams are normally designed for 100 years of useful age and their functional life also gets decreased with progressive reservoir sedimentation concurrently reducing project benefits, none of the dams have, so far, been decommissioned in India.
The parliamentary panel – standing committee on water that submitted its report to Parliament on March 20 – recommended the Jal Shakti ministry take suitable measures for evolving a “viable mechanism to assess the lives and operations of the dams” and also persuade the states to decommission those which have outlived their lifespan.
Dam safety has always been an issue in the country which in the past reported as many as 36 dam disasters which include the worst one in Gujarat (Machu dam in Morbi) where around 2,000 people died and over 12,000 houses were destroyed in 1979.
The panel was informed by the ministry that “there is no mechanism to assess the viable lifespan and performance of dams”. Regular maintenance of dams is, however, undertaken for their health assessment and safety. The dams are mostly owned by state governments/public sector undertakings (PSUs)/ private agencies which carry out the operation and maintenance (O&M) works of the dams in their jurisdiction.
The Centre legislated the Dam Safety Act in 2021 to provide for surveillance, inspection, O&M of a specified dam.
The panel also noted challenges in water sector and pitched for a need to adopt multi-pronged strategy such as “strengthening of legal and institutional framework” for water conservation, crop diversification, growing of crops requiring less water, revival of dry springs, floodwater harvesting and ensuring better percolation of rainwater.
Dam decommissioning is a very long process which includes removal of hydro-electric generation facilities and recontouring of river channels through ecologically viable interventions in the catchment areas. Since dams have a life span, few countries, including the US, have decommissioned their dams and restored the natural flow of rivers.
Though the dams are normally designed for 100 years of useful age and their functional life also gets decreased with progressive reservoir sedimentation concurrently reducing project benefits, none of the dams have, so far, been decommissioned in India.
The parliamentary panel – standing committee on water that submitted its report to Parliament on March 20 – recommended the Jal Shakti ministry take suitable measures for evolving a “viable mechanism to assess the lives and operations of the dams” and also persuade the states to decommission those which have outlived their lifespan.
Dam safety has always been an issue in the country which in the past reported as many as 36 dam disasters which include the worst one in Gujarat (Machu dam in Morbi) where around 2,000 people died and over 12,000 houses were destroyed in 1979.
The panel was informed by the ministry that “there is no mechanism to assess the viable lifespan and performance of dams”. Regular maintenance of dams is, however, undertaken for their health assessment and safety. The dams are mostly owned by state governments/public sector undertakings (PSUs)/ private agencies which carry out the operation and maintenance (O&M) works of the dams in their jurisdiction.
The Centre legislated the Dam Safety Act in 2021 to provide for surveillance, inspection, O&M of a specified dam.
The panel also noted challenges in water sector and pitched for a need to adopt multi-pronged strategy such as “strengthening of legal and institutional framework” for water conservation, crop diversification, growing of crops requiring less water, revival of dry springs, floodwater harvesting and ensuring better percolation of rainwater.
