Bhubaneswar: As many as 45 dams have been included under Government of India’s Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) in three different phases, Union MoS for Water Resources, Bishweswar Tudu said on Monday.
While replying to an unstarred question of Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra, the Union Minister said the DRIP Phase-I was implemented during April 2012 to March 2021 with financial assistance from the World Bank with the objective to improve the safety and operational performance of selected dams along with accompanying dam safety institutional strengthening.
Under the scheme, physical rehabilitation of 223 dams located in 7 States including 26 dams from Odisha were undertaken at the cost of Rs 2567 crore, he said.
After completion of DRIP Phase-I program, Government of India has taken up DRIP Phase-II & III scheme. The scheme envisages rehabilitation and safety improvement of 736 dams located in 19 States, with a budget outlay of Rs 10,211 crore. The scheme is of 10 years’ duration, Tudu said.
Out of the total proposed cost for DRIP Phase-II & III, Rs7,000 crore is an external loan and Rs 3,211 crore would be borne by the respective participating States and the three central agencies.
The Phase II is currently operational since October 2021 with budget outlay of Rs 5107 crore, and being co-financed by the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Under the Scheme, detailed project proposals called Project Screening Template (PST) of 123 dams costing Rs 3937 crore have been approved by the World Bank.
So far, contract(s) for rehabilitation works costing Rs 1529 crore at 82 dams have been awarded by various implementing agencies, he said, adding, in Odisha, six dam projects have been undertaken with a cost of Rs 30.01 crore.
Under DRIP II & III Scheme, he said, Odisha Water Resources Department is one of the implementing agencies. PST of 13 dams costing Rs 65 crore has been submitted by the State Government to the Central Water Commission (CWC) for approval of the World Bank.
PSTs for 9 dams costing Rs 53 crore have been approved by the World Bank, wherein rehabilitation works at 6 dams costing Rs 31.67 crore have been awarded by the State and are under implementation, the MoS stated.
Further, the rehabilitation works at selected dams, would help in enhancing safety and operational performance of the dams, in turn ensuring that the given dam serves its intended purpose sustainably.
Also, the scheme has provision for preparation of dam specific operation and maintenance manuals as well as emergency action plans, which will help in improving the disaster resilience of the dams as well as the downstream community, he added.