Law for safety of dams on cards

The Union government is planning to enact a separate legislation for protection of all dams in the country Central Water Commission Chairman Ghanshyam Jha has said.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the second national dam safety conference in the City on Tuesday.

He said that drafting of legislation was in preliminary stages and there will be uniformity in ensuring safety of dams once the legislation is enacted.

Water Resource Minister M B Patil said that State government had taken steps to ensure security of dams in Karnataka as per the recommendations of former CWC chairman A K Bajaj.

World Bank assistance
He said that World Bank had given assistance of Rs 276.75 crore to the State for the development and rejuvenation of 27 large dams in November 2014.

As Karnataka has performed well under the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project, he urged World Bank and CWC to enhance the assistance to Rs 483 crore by way of additional allocation to the State.

Former CWC chairman A B Pandey said that an integrated database of all dams and reservoirs should be created and the information comes in handy in the event of natural calamity and disaster.