First International Dam Safety Conference begins tomorrow

The first International Dam Safety Conference will begin in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow, the government said in a statement today.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the two-day conference, which will be presided over by Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal.

The conference will discuss various safety-related issues of large dams.

As many as 550 delegates from over 20 countries, including the US, Switzerland, Spain and Australia, will take part in the conference, Director (Dam Safety) of the Central Water Commission Pramod Narayan said, according to the statement.

Seven dam safety manuals developed under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) will also be released for implementation during the conference, the statement said.
 

Through the DRIP, the Centre aims to assist improvement of 223 large dams "which may be experiencing stress" in seven states at an outlay of Rs 2,100 crore.

A software programme to document authentic asset and health information pertaining to the large dams in the country, known as the Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application (DHARMA), will also be launched.

DHARMA is a web tool that will help dam owners to digitise all dam-related data effectively, store, monitor and take appropriate actions to ensure need-based rehabilitation.

Besides, over 140 technical papers will be presented on several aspects of dam safety including case studies.

"About 30 national and international organisations are showcasing contemporary developments in technology, materials, instrumentation and their application in addressing the dam safety issues during the exhibition being organised during the conference," the statement quoted Narayan as saying.

Globally India ranks third after China and the US in terms of the number of large dams (5,254 large dams in operation and 447 large dams under construction) with a total storage capacity of about 283 billion cubic meters.

Around 80 per cent of the large dams are more than 25 years old, while 213 others exceed the age of 100 years and their safety considerations do not match with the current design standards and safety norms, prompting the Centre to undertake the DRIP in 2012, the statement said.