India has about  4050 large dams*. About 60 per cent of these dams are more than 20 years old. Appropriate measures for the maintenance of these structures are critical for their safety.

Dam Safety Organization of Central Water Commission acted as a nodal agency in the implementation of the World Bank assisted Dam Safety Assurance and Rehabilitation Project in which four States, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, participated. Basic Dams Safety measures were provided for 182 dams while 55 dams were taken up for Rehabilitation and Rectification works.

The success of this project led to the framing of fresh proposals naming as Dam Safety Assurance, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Project now renamed as Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project. This project aims to improve the safety and optimum sustainable performance of selected existing dams and associated appurtenances by setting up Dam Safety and Improvement Fund  with the participation of World Bank, Central and State Governments and other Institutional Funding Agencies. The project aims to cover 13 states Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

The World Bank has prepared a draft working paper on Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Fund. The fourth meeting of the National Level Steering Committee discussed various issues related to the project including funding mechanism. Consultants have been engaged for conducting these studies for 10 existing projects in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Seismic design parameters for 14 projects were discussed in the 18th Meeting of National Committee on Seismic Design Parameters held last year which approved the co-efficient and response spectra for 8 projects and accorded conditional approval to two projects. The draft guidelines for Site Specific Seismic Study for River Valley projects have been prepared with a view to standardize the procedure.