Most dams in UP lack disaster management plan

LUCKNOW: With rivers across Uttar Pradesh in spate, the breach in the dyke on the Ghagra in Azamgarh is just the tip of a gargantuan problem with disasters waiting to happen across UP, say sources in the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). And in almost all dams and dykes in the state, there exist no working disaster management plans to deal with
emergencies, MoEF officials say.
Deciding to act tough following the Azamgarh dyke breach, MoEF (central region) has decided to demand better management and safety standards from project authorities of dams in UP, pressing for submission of command area development plan, which includes the vital disaster management plan (DMP).
According to environmental law, for dams, dykes, canals and related projects, clearance has to be procured from MoEF, which gives a green signal to the project after examining requirements such as catchment area treatment plan and command area development plan. The latter includes plans for proper utilisation of water for irrigation, cropping pattern, necessary lining of distribution canals to check seepage so that waterlogging and salinity do not occur. But most importantly, it includes the DMP, with separate plans for on-site and off-site disaster management.
“None of the dams built or cleared before May 1994 have submitted these vital DMPs to the MoEF,� said a top MoEF official in Lucknow. “A DMP is prepared after taking into account factors influencing and affecting the safety of the dam, such as flood level checks and possible circumstances of disasters and includes separate on-site and off-site disaster management plans. On- site disaster management is the responsibility of project authority while off-site disaster management is that of district and police authorities as well as the project authority,� he said. “In fact, although it became mandatory for the Environmental Impact Assessment report to be submitted and environmental clearance to be taken from MoEF only after May, 1994, we are now stressing on these precautions for all the dams and multipurpose projects in UP, Uttaranchal and Rajasthan,� he added.
The official disclosed: “In the case of Rajghat dam on the Betwa in Lalitpur and Pathrai dam on a tributary of the Betwa in Jhansi, the project authorities (chief engineer of Betwa River Board and chief engineer, irrigation department, Jhansi), have just been issued written warnings. They have been told explicitly, that strict action will be taken if they do not submit the catchment area treatment and command area development plans. They have also been told to create a 500-metre green belt around the periphery of the reservoir to check reservoir siltation.�
When asked to comment, chief secretary (irrigation) SK Agarwal said: “All dams and dykes must have disaster management plans.�