Two-day conference on dam safety

A two-day international conference on dam safety will be held on February 13 and 14 at the J.N. Tata Auditorium, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. The conference is being jointly organised by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Karnataka Department of Water Resources.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the conference, while Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, will preside over the inaugural session.

The event will bring together international and national experts, policymakers, engineers, researchers and academicians for discussions and workshops on dam safety. As many as 25 experts from 10 countries are expected to participate. Around 46 research papers will be presented during the two-day conference.

According to Mr. Shivakumar, the conference is being organised to mark 1,000 days of the Congress government in the State.

Repair of dams

The Minister said ₹1,500 crore has been allocated for repair works and safety measures for 58 dams in Karnataka. He noted that ₹10,211 crore has already been spent on 733 dams across 19 States with financial assistance from the World Bank and other financial institutions.

India has 6,628 dams, of which 231 are located in Karnataka. More than 75% of the dams in the country are over 25 years old, he added.