Akshay Azad
ET Report
Jammu, Mar 28: Recommendations of the Central Water Commission to constitute Dam Safety Organisation (DSO) in the state to monitor the safety and security of its sixteen dams have fallen on deaf ears, jeopardizing the crucial aspect of their maintenance.
Sources informed Early Times that despite the fact that National Hydel Project Corporation (NHPC)'s major share of power production comes from Jammu and Kashmir but same had failed to develop Emergency Action Plans besides, state also had failed to constitute Dam Safety Organization as recommended by CWC, time and again.
The Dam Safety Organization (DSO), if in place, is entitled to conduct various types of inspections of large dams including pre and post monsoon inspection, hydrological review of large dams, structural review, monitor preparation of Emergency Action Plan (EAP), to conduct seminars and workshops, monitoring of rehabilitation work beside other works.
Sources further said that due to failure to constitute, Dam Safety Organization (DSO), no concrete monitoring of the large dams has been done.
"It is also evident from the fact that recently it also came to fore that despite issuance of guidelines for development of Emergency Action Plan for large dams, the JKSPDC and NHPC had failed to prepare EAP of eight dams, rendering huge area and property left vulnerable to cascading affects of dam failure," sources adding that each state was required to establish a dam safety organization (DSO) to address safety issues of large dams but so far in Jammu and Kashmir no such organization has been established.
They further said that the matter regarding, constitution of Dam Safety Organization, had been regularly stressed by the Central Water Commission (CWC) during the meetings of National Committee on Dam Safety through correspondence, but failed to make any difference, as no such organization has been constituted so far.
According to current status, Jammu and Kashmir has 16 big dams, majority of which are owned by National Hydel Project Corporation (NHPC) while few of them are owned by Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation.
Pertinently, NHPC is major stake holder and owned majority of major dams projects in Jammu and Kashmir including Salal-690 MW, Uri-I 480 MW, Dulhasti 390 MW, Sewa 120 MW, Uri-II 240 MW and upcoming project Kishenganga 330 MW etc, besides JKSPDC owned few including Baglihar of 450 MW. |
