Dams safety and resilience

Dams safety and resilience

Part of: GS Prelims and GS- II – International relations

In news The Government of India, the Central Water Commission, government representatives from 10 participating states and the World Bank recently signed a $250 million project for long-term dam safety program and improving the safety and performance of existing dams across various states of India.

• The signed project is known as Second Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP-2). 

What are the features of DRIP- 2?

• DRIP-2 will strengthen dam safety by building dam safety guidelines, bring in global experience, and introduce innovative technologies. 
• Another major innovation envisaged under the project is the introduction of a risk-based approach to dam asset management that will help to effectively allocate financial resources towards priority dam safety needs.
• The project will be implemented in approximately 120 dams across the states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, and at the national level through the Central Water Commission (CWC). 
• Other states or agencies may be added to the project during project implementation.
• DRIP-2 will also support: 
  • flood forecasting systems and integrated reservoir operations that will contribute to building climate resilience; 
  • the preparation and implementation of Emergency Action Plans to enable vulnerable downstream communities to prepare for and enhance resilience against the possible negative impacts and risks of climate change; 
  • the piloting of supplemental revenue generation schemes such as floating solar panels.

News Source: PIB