Press release for immediate Publication

DRIP outlay for Phase-1 increased to Rs. 3466 crore and duration extended by
2 years; Rs. 600 crore for construction of additional spillway for Hirakud dam
International Dam Safety conference 2019 successfully kicks off today

February 13, 2019, Bhubaneswar: The International Dam Safety Conference-2019 was inaugurated
by Shri Niranjan Pujari, Hon’ble Minister for Water Resources, Govt. of Odisha with U.P Singh,
Secretary, Ministry of water resources river development & Ganga rejuvenation, Govt. of India as
Guest of Honor. This Conference, the fifth in the series of Dam Safety Conferences, being held in
Bhubaneswar, is a joint initiative of the Government of India, Government of Odisha and the World
Bank under aegis of the ongoing World Bank assisted Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project
(DRIP). Dam Safety Conferences are being organized as an annual event in different DRIP States in
collaboration with the Implementing Agencies and leading academic institutes to provide a common
platform for all stakeholders including non-DRIP States.
Shri Niranjan Pujari in his remarks, said that about 80% of our large dams are over 25 years old. About
209 dams are over 100 years old and were built in an era when design practices and safety
considerations were much below the current design and safety norms. Several of these dams are
experiencing distress and need attention for ensuring their structural safety and operational
efficiency. He pointed out that like body needs routine check-up, same is true of dams.
In his remarks, Union Water Resources secretary UP Singh, said, efforts are on for automatic
functioning of Hirakud, which is one of the longest earthen dams in the world. The Centre has also
decided to increase the water retaining capacity of the dam from the existing 15 lakh to 24 lakh
cusecs.”
Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR, RD & GR) had been
taking various initiatives since late ‘70s such as establishment of Dam Safety Organisations in the CWC
and States. In the 1990s a World Bank assisted DSRP project was launched to rehabilitate 183
distressed dams. In 2012 The Ministry initiated the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project
(DRIP) with a duration of 6 years and financial outlay of Rs. 2100 crores. Presently, DRIP covers
rehabilitation of 198 large dam projects located in seven States namely Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand. Government has revised this financial outlay
to 3466 crores and extended the duration by two years to complete the ongoing Project activities.
In addition to rehabilitation of selected dams, DRIP also involves Institutional Strengthening and
Project Management in the ten Implementing Agencies as well as nine academic institutions primarily
aimed at sustained dam safety management. In Odisha, 26 large dams are covered under DRIP for
rehabilitation including construction of an additional spill way for the Hirakud dam to address the
hydrological safety at about Rs. 600 Crore.
Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application (DHARMA), a software tool for asset
management has been developed to capture authentic data pertaining to all large dams to act as
information repository. It covers the monitoring and health information to regularly review the safety
aspects of any dam. This tool has the appropriate access to policy makers, project managers, and dam
managers to review the information and take appropriate action. Government of India is striving to
address the issue of dam safety in a comprehensive way for a quite a long time. In this context, Union
Cabinet approved the Dam Safety Bill in June 2018 and this Bill was introduced in Parliament in
December 2018.
Considering the success of the ongoing DRIP, Government of India proposed Phase-II and Phase-III of
DRIP with a financial outlay of over 10,221.0 Crores to rehabilitate around 700 dams. The new Project
is proposed to be a State Sector Scheme with 10-year duration, with each proposed Phase of six years
duration with two years overlapping. The government of India has given in-principle approval to this
Project and very shortly is going to pose to World Bank for funding. This Project has wide spatial
coverage; having 18 States and two Central Agencies, and covering about 13% of large dams of India.
In addition to three components of ongoing Scheme, it has additional Component i.e. Revenue
Generation through incidental i.e. tourism, fisheries, solar and hydel power, water recreations etc.
The basic objective of these annual events is to give exposure to non-DRIP States as well as other
stakeholders across the Country and World, to the best global practices and technological
advancements to address the emerging dam safety challenges.
Over 725 delegates comprising dam owners, policy makers, and dam professionals, Scientists,
academia etc. took part in the Conference. About 100 overseas experts from 30 Countries
representing all the major continents of the world participating in the Conference. Moreover During
this Conference, 3 important national guidelines, 16 Emergency Action Plans, and 5 Operation and
Maintenance Manuals was released. 35 national and international organizations both from within the
country and abroad are showcasing their technologies, products and services in the exhibition during
the Conference, reflecting the contemporary developments in the dam safety field.
For media queries alone contact Sonam Motreja of PRHUB @ sonamm@prhub.com/9945017180 and
Soubhagya deo @ soubhagyadeo@gmail.com /9437275007.