Dams in troubled waters

Centre and states must address issues of safety

Some of the revelations made at a recent national conference on dam safety are quite disturbing. Nearly 80 per cent of the country’s 5,000-odd major dams are over 25 years of age and are facing grave safety challenges. Worse still, about 170 of them are more than 100 years old, built with material and technologies deemed obsolete now. These are basically earthen structures that are innately far weaker than the concrete dams normally constructed now. Besides, their design and safety aspects fall woefully short of present norms. These, therefore, pose a grave danger to life, property and infrastructure. India is