Maharashtra missed first phase of Rs 2,100 cr national dam safety programme

In April 2012, Maharashtra was conspicuous by its absence in the first phase of a national dam safety programme- the central government’s Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP), Phase-1.

This absence now figures conspicuously amidst the rising death toll due to the breaching of the Tiware dam in Ratnagiri district on July 2.

DRIP Phase-1 was initiated in 2012 with World Bank funding to improve the safety and operational performance of selected dams across the country. Initially, 225 dam projects across seven states, namely, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand were selected and finally, the number was revised to 198 with a funding of Rs. 2,100 crore. Maharashtra, however, did not figure in this project. [Readmore]