Why does india need dams

Font Size Abc Small. Abc Medium. Abc Large. ET Bureau. The constant clackety droning of drilling machines and excavators punctures the idyllic surrounds of the Temghar dam, some 50 km west of Pune. Opened in , the dam, with a capacity of 3, million cubic feet, was a key supplement to the ever-thirsty and fastgrowing Pune city and district. The Rs crore reservoir is empty.

On a mid-November day, when this writer visited the site, the gates to the dam were shut and a handful of workers milled about. On one side, a massive mound of debris lay waiting to be cleared by an excavator that had yet to be pressed into service. Under the lens NFRA member under lens for audit gaps in fraud-hit firm; cloud over selection process for regulatory posts.

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Share this Comment: Post to Twitter. Already an ET Prime Member? Sign In now. A recent survey by the Indian government has found out that more than large dams in the country are located in high-intensity seismic zones - areas which are considered to be most vulnerable and prone to earthquakes.

India has more than 30 river basins, each with a catchment area exceeding several thousand square miles. Some 5, large dams have been built in 22 of its 29 states. At least 3, of these dams have been built in the last 50 years. In a country where more than half the population is engaged in agriculture, the majority of these dams provide irrigation to some 90 million hectares of farmland.

Questions, however, have been raised over the safety of these dams after Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant was devastated by the March earthquake and tsunami. More than 1, people were killed in the region. Successive Indian governments have maintained that almost all the dams in the seismic zones can withstand any high-intensity earthquake or tsunami and safety reviews have been done on a regular basis.

India's Earth Science Minister Jitendra Singh recently assured the parliament that "not only dams but all nuclear power plants were inspected following the Fukushima incident and they are absolutely safe". But many experts believe that several Indian dams are too old and becoming increasingly unsafe. They say these dams should be pulled down and replaced by new ones. They point out that the US, with more than 65, small and large dams - some built as early as the 19th Century - has led the world in pulling down old dams and building new ones.

Water officials in India say decommissioning dams is a long process and involves building alternative dams in advance - an expensive exercise. By continuing to browse this Website, you consent to the use of these cookies. Quick takes, analyses and macro-level views on all contemporary economic, financial and political events.

The rising dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharing water from the Mahanadi is, at its core, one of storage or the lack of it. Reports say that Chhattisgarh wants to build as many as 13 barrages in the upper catchment area, and Odisha is opposed to such plans.

The problem with barrages is that they can well divert, but cannot store, water. And to better use its water resources, Chhattisgarh ought to be building dams in the upper riparian so as to purposefully increase its storage infrastructure. It is true that dams are far more costly to design and construct than barrages, often by a factor of