Effects of Sedimentation of Dams
Water is a state subject and water resources projects are planned, executed and maintained byrespective State Governments from their own resources and as per their requirements and priorities. Therole of the Central Government is limited to supplement the efforts of the State Governments by providingtechnical guidance and central assistance through its various schemes, if specifically sought by the StateGovernment. In the ongoing Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP), there is a need-basedprovision for partner agencies to restore the lost capacity of few selected dams.
Under DRIP, Central Water Commission (CWC) has published “Handbook for Assessing andManaging Reservoir Sedimentation” and recommends dam owners to follow this handbook. Further,Guidelines for preparation of operation and Maintenance Manual for Dams has also been published. Also162 Nos. of Operation and Maintenance Manual have been prepared under ongoing DRIP, it includescorrect method and sequence of opening and closing gates, including low level bottom outlets for flushingthe sediment out from reservoirs.
Need based provision for restoration of lost capacity of reservoirs have been kept in theproposed DRIP Phases II & III also. Implementation agencies may utilize this opportunity for restorationof reservoir capacities of the selected dams.
CWC carries out Reservoir Sedimentation Studies using Hydro graphic Survey and RemoteSensing Technique. CWC also collects, collates and compiles the sedimentation data from the projectauthorities/State Government.The collected data are collated, analyzed and compiled as “Compendium on Siltation ofreservoirs in India”. Earlier 3 editions of the compendium have been published in years 1991, 2001 and2015. The 4th edition (the recent one) has been published in 2020 incorporating information of 369reservoirs. In the Compendium the trends/rates of siltation in various Dams of different regions of thecountry has been duly analyzed. The details of the compendium is available on CWC Website athttp://cwc.gov.in/other-publications-cwc
This information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti & Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Rattan Lal Kataria in Lok Sabha.
