An Overview of Dam Safety in India

Context:

• This article is based on the news “Sikkim review: How safe are dams in India?” which was published in the Mint. The Chungthang dam in Sikkim collapsed recently due to a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) killing 30 people. 

International Conference on Dam Safety (ICDS)

• The dam was about 20 years old and several environmental concerns had been raised over the years about the formation of glacial lakes and likely GLOFs.  
• International Conference on Dam Safety (ICDS): It was recently organized by the Ministry of Jal Shakti at the Rajasthan International Centre (RIC) in Jaipur which laid emphasis on the issue of dam health and safety.

Why do we need dam safety in India?

• Dam failure: The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) defines dam failure as the collapse or movement of part of a dam or its foundation so that the dam cannot retain water.
  • Such failure may be caused by age, construction deficiencies, inadequate maintenance, extreme weather or seismic events, and faulty operation. 
• Threats from dam failure: Unhealthy dams pose significant threats to human life, crops, houses, buildings, roads, the environment and the economy. 
  • Therefore, dam safety is a matter of utmost and universal importance.
• Dams on interstate rivers: Ninety-two percent of India’s large dams have been built on  inter-state rivers. 
  • The negative repercussions of a dam’s hazard potential may spill over to other States and even other countries. 

Also read: List Of Major Dams In India Type, Roles And State Wise 

What are the issues associated with dam safety?

• Ineffective compliance of Dam Safety Act, 2021: Only 20 States have constituted the State Committee on Dam Safety (SCDS) in compliance with the provisions of the act.
  • Moreover, only 16 States have established the State Dam Safety Organisation (SDSO).
  • While state governments are empowered to enact dam safety legislation, only Bihar has enacted Bihar Dam Safety Act, 2006.

• Lack of oversight powers over state departments: At the state level, the respective water resources or irrigation departments are in charge of dam safety. 
  • They are reported to usually follow Central Water Commission(CWC) standards, but the CWC has no oversight powers over them.
• Lack of clearance mandate for small dams: Dams which have an irrigation command area less than 10,000 Ha or power generation capacity between 50 to 25 MW require a clearance from the state government only. 
  • They do not require an environmental clearance at all. 
  • No existing statutory provisions require regular and systematic reporting of dam failures.
• No single agency keeps track of all dam failures: CWC maintains a record of dam failure events but the list is collected from states, and is not regularly updated. 
  • The Central bill provides that every State Dam Safety Organisation has to report dam failures within its jurisdiction.
  • However, there is no details about how these requirements will be implemented and whether states will choose to adopt them at all.
• Dam failure analysis: It is done as part of Environment impact assessment(EIA) for projects requiring environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). 
  • There is no standardization in how dam failure analyses are conducted and reported. While the CWC has developed some guidelines on this, they are not legally binding.
  • Performing dam failure analysis is compulsory for getting an environmental clearance for constructing new dams and for modifying/upgrading existing dams. 
  • There are, however, no regulations for conducting these analyses for dams which are operating but where no new engineering works are being undertaken.
• Structural deficiencies: In India, the State governments and their water and irrigation ministries own most dams and are primarily responsible for their upkeep. 
  • Many of these dams have structural deficiencies and shortcomings in operation and monitoring.
  • In 2017, the Comptroller and Auditor of General of India found that out of the 17 States it audited, only two states conducted pre- and post-monsoon safety audits of their dams.

Also read: India’s First National Water­body Census

Way Forward

• Legally binding  standards for dam failure analysis: 
  • MoEF needs to institute legally binding standards for conducting and reporting dam failure analysis.
• Regular sharing of dam-related data between the states and the centre: This must include dam failure analysis data and inundation maps.
  • These data need to be made publicly available for transparency, and for facilitating research in dam safety and risk mitigation.
• Dam Decommissioning policy: This needs to be put in place for removing or reconstructing dams which cannot be repaired or upgraded.
  • It includes removal of hydro-electric generation facilities and recontouring of river channels through ecologically viable interventions in the catchment areas. 
• Integrated database: It should link information from dam failure analyses for cleared projects with the static dam-related information from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Water Resources Information System (WRIS).
• Pan-India statutory framework for reporting and recording dam failure events:  For this, India needs to enact legislation, and put in place systems for regular reporting of dam failure events.
  • Neither is there a centralized repository for information regarding dam failure events. As a result, many dam failure events go unreported. 
• Risk-based decision-making system: It needs to be developed for making objectively sound decisions on all aspects of dam design, construction and operation like those used in Australia and USA.

Conclusion

Ensuring the safety of dams is crucial for protecting lives, the environment, and the economy. India needs robust legislation, standardized analyses, and transparent reporting mechanisms to address dam safety challenges and prevent potential disasters.

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