Central Water Commission (CWC) compiles and maintains nation-wide register of Large Dams i.e.National Register of Large Dams (NRLD), as per information provided by dam owners. Latest edition ofNRLD was published in June 2019. As per NRLD 2019, the country has 5334 completed large dams and411 under- construction large dams.

Responsibility for safety, conservation and protection of dams primarily lies with Dam Ownerswho are State Govts, Central and State PSUs and some private players. Central Water Commission (CWC)has been working towards evolving unified practices of dam safety in the country and routinely advisesdam owners to constitute State Dam Safety Organization (SDSO)/ Dam Safety Cell, to carry out pre-monsoonand post-monsoon inspections and take necessary remedial measures and to constitute DamSafety Review Panel (DSRP). Most of the states have SDSO and DSRP and carry out pre-monsoon andpost monsoon inspection of Dams. On request of dam owning agencies, CWC also inspects the dams andguides the dam owners.

National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) is an advisory body which suggests ways to bringdam safety activities in line with the latest advancements in the field, suitably modified for Indianconditions and acts as a forum for exchange of views on techniques adopted for remedial measures torelieve distress in old dams. So far, 39 meetings of NCDS have been held.

Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and GangaRejuvenation initiated World Bank assisted Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) in April2012, with an objective to improve safety and operational performance of selected dams, institutionalstrengthening and adopting a systems management approach. It is a State Sector Scheme with centralcomponent with a provision of rehabilitation for 223 dams located in seven States i.e. Kerala, MadhyaPradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. The budget outlay of the Scheme isRs.3466 Crore with scheduled closure on March 31, 2021.

Under DRIP, 14 nos. of guidelines/manuals related to dam safety have been revised/published.CWC recommends to the dam owners to implement these guidelines and manuals. These Guidelines areavailable on official website at https://damsafety.in.

CWC has developed web based asset management tools named Dam Health and RehabilitationMonitoring Application (DHARMA) and Seismic Hazard Analysis Information System (SHAISYS).DHARMA supports effective collection and management of authentic asset and health data for all largedams in India. It also provides a platform for multilateral collaboration of all dam owning or operating andmaintaining agencies to directly enter dam asset and health data and update the same on a continuing basis.License of access to DHARMA has been issued to almost all the dam owning agencies. SHAISYS toolaims to ascertain the extent of seismic forces and its implication on safety of the dam structures.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the next Phase of DRIP i.e.DRIP Phase II and Phase III on October 29, 2020. The Scheme envisages comprehensive rehabilitation of736 dams located in 19 States and 3 Central Agencies and entails financial assistance from the World Bank(WB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). It is a State Sector Scheme with Centralcomponent, with duration of 10 years, to be implemented in two Phases i.e. Phase-II and Phase-III, each ofsix years duration with an overlap of two years. The total cost of the Project is Rs.10,211 Cr. Out of thiscost, Rs.7000 Cr. is an external loan, Rs.3211 Cr. would be borne by the respective participating States andCentral agencies.

The Dam Safety Bill 2019 has been passed in Lok Sabha on 2nd August, 2019. The Billprovides for the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of all specified dams across thecountry. The Bill is likely to be introduced in Rajya Sabha in near future.

As per National Register of Large Dams (NRLD) 2019, 12 large dams are under constructionphase in Gujarat. Besides this, total 5 Nos. of dams have been proposed to be constructed as per detailedproject report of Par-Tapi-Narmada Link Project (Gujarat & Maharashtra) submitted to CWC for appraisal.

Under National Register of Large Dams (NRLD), CWC does not maintain the data of cost ofconstruction of dams. Further, Par-Tapi-Narmada Link Project is one project and district wise bifurcationof its cost is not available.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti & Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Rattan Lal Kataria in Lok Sabha.

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