Review of Progress of Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP)
Review of progress of Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) was done by Shri Shashi Shekhar, Secretary, MoWR, RD & GR on 10th February, 2016. The project has picked up substantial pace after a slow start which was on account of complex preparatory phase of the project. Project involving 9 implementing agencies (IAs) across seven states of India (Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand) targets rehabilitation of about 225 dam projects and preparatory activities have been completed for 207 dams. Tender documents have been completed for 177 dams; Notice inviting tenders have been issued for 173 dams and in case of 83 dams works have been awarded. Secretary observed that Tamil Nadu is holding down the overall DRIP progress, and the IAs of Tamil Nadu need to improve upon their performance. Focussing on the need for continuous improvement in the capacities of IAs about 44 trainings have been conducted wherein about 1500 officials have been trained. With a view of Dam safety institutional strengthening National Dam Safety Conferences have been conducted (First at IIT Madras on 24th and 25th March, 2015 and Second at IISC Bangalore on 12th and 13th January, 2016) with active participation of dam owners and operators, researchers, technology providers etc. from all parts of the country and also from abroad. Under DRIP, Central Dam Safety Organization under CWC has received ISO 9001:2008 certification for Quality management system; and CWC has also been awarded the CBIP 2016 award for promoting health and safety of large dams under DRIP. Other important achievement include, the study of unusual Dam behaviour of Idukki arch dam (Kerala); rehabilitation proposal of Hirakud dam (Odisha) involving additional spillway with peoples inclusive approach; Major hydro-mechanical intervention for aged dams such Krishna Raj Sagar (Karnataka); and desiltation studies for dams of Tamil Nadu. Works are in progress on development of Dam Asset Management Tool titled Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application (DHARMA) and also on some of the dam safety related guidelines. The IAs have also agreed for development of Emergency Action Plan for all DRIP dams and related activities are in progress.
SS/CP/JK
