M Tech. Programme in Dam Safety and Rehabilitation
India has 5334 large dams in operation and about 411 large dams are under construction. In addition to the large dams, there are more than 90,000 small and medium dams in the country. These dams have been built to ensure water safety, which in turn, is essential for the food and energy security of the country. The recorded history of dam construction in the country dates back to the 11th century when Veeranam dam was constructed in Central India and since then the dams are being built for the storage of water. In addition to this, there are numerous dams all over the world. IIT Roorkee is playing a major role in the design and execution of these dams since its inception in 1847.
The safety of these dams is of utmost importance. Many of the existing dams are very old and need rehabilitation. Keeping these concerns in view, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation through Central Water Commission initiated the DRIP project in April 2012 with the assistance of World Bank. IIT Roorkee is the academic partner in this programme and has entered in MoU with Central Water Commission in September 2017. This project is coming to an end in March 2021.
Keeping the importance of the dams in view and to cover more number of dams in the project, phase II and phase III of the DRIP programme have been approved by Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India on October 29, 2020.
Dam Safety Bill 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 29, 2019, and was passed on August 02, 2019. The bill provides for the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of all specified dams across the country. The bill is likely to be passed by Rajya Sabha soon.
During the concurrence of the Dam Safety Bill, Government India desired that apex institutions in the country should be approached to start a regular course in the dam safety management at the post-graduation level. Accordingly, in pursuance to this, Secretary, DoWR, RD&GR requested Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of HRD for this. The Chairman, CWC also requested to the academic partners of DRIP in June 2018.
IIT Roorkee kept a close eye on these developments and constituted a 4-member committee, consisting of Prof N.K. Goel, Prof. M.L. Sharma, Prof. Zulfequar Ahmad, and Prof. M.L. Kansal, in December 2019 to draft the proposal for the establishment of the International Centre for Dams at IIT Roorkee and start a M. Tech. programme in Dam Safety and Rehabilitation with effect from July 2021.
A meeting through video conferencing was held on May 27, 2020, under the Chairmanship of the Additional Secretary, D/o WR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti to discuss about the matters related to the experience of IIT Roorkee with ongoing DRIP, plan for the introduction of Postgraduate programme in Dam Safety Management and establishment of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Dam Engineering. This meeting was attended by Director, IIT Roorkee and Prof. N.K. Goel. The intent of IIT Roorkee to establish the Centre for dams and start of the M.Tech. programme on Dam safety and Rehabilitation was reiterated in the meeting.
The committee had a series of meetings and after receiving the inputs from Central Water Commission finalised its proposal for the establishment of the 'International Centre for the dams' at IIT Roorkee and start of M. Tech programme in Dam safety and Rehabilitation and sent it to the Departments of Civil Engineering, Hydrology, Earthquake and WRDM for consideration and inputs for the M. Tech. Programme. The proposal for the Establishment of the Centre was also sent to the CWC and the World Bank for consideration and providing inputs for the finalisation of the proposal in October 2020.
A number of suggestions were received from the Departments of Civil, EQ, Hydrology and WRDM. The present proposal incorporates the suggestions received till date. The requirements, structure and the syllabus of different subjects of the programme are given in the next section.
Who can Attend the Programme
The programme will be meant for the sponsored officers of state implementing agencies of DRIP programme and other agencies within India and abroad with relevant experience of 2 years and fresh GATE qualified candidates having valid GATE score.
Eligibility for Admission
The Programme is open for sponsored officers from India and abroad with two years of relevant experience in Dam safety, rehabilitation, and other associated areas. GATE-qualified fresh engineering graduates with valid GATE scores are also admitted to the programme. (
Application Form)
ELIGIBILITY FOR SPONSORED CANDIDATES
Graduation/ Post Graduation degree in Civil/ Mechanical/ Earthquake/ Hydrology/ Water Resources Engineering/ equivalent;
Post-Graduation degree in Physics/ Mathematics/ Geology/ Geophysics; Environmental Engineering/ equivalent;
Any other degree acceptable to the State Implementing agencies for regular appointment in the dam safety wings.
ELIGIBILITY FOR GATE QUALIFIED CANDIDATES
Graduation engineering degree in Civil/ Mechanical engineering / equivalent;
Post-graduation degree in Geology/ Geophysics; equivalent;
30 with a minimum of 5 seats for GATE qualified candidates.
The programme will be jointly delivered by the faculty members of IIT Roorkee and the national and international experts. The national and International experts have been proposed with the delivery of the programme as the number of subjects proposed to be dealt with are new and the faculty members of IIT Roorkee need to develop the expertise of delivering the programme independently over a period of next five years through continuous interaction with international experts and exposure visits.
The programme shall be supported by Ministry of Jal Shakti under DRIP phase II and III and the World Bank.
A number of guidelines have been prepared by CPMU of CWC in consultation with National and International subject matter specialists during the last 6 years. These guidelines document the best National and International practices in the area. The M. Tech. programme will give the participants enough exposure to follow these guidelines and implement the best practices in the field. So far, the following 14 guidelines have been prepared and are available online.
Guidelines for developing Emergency action plans for dams, February 2016;
Guidelines for safety inspections of dams, January 2018;
Guidelines for instrumentation of large dams, January 2018;
Guidelines for preparing operation and maintenance manual for dams, January 2018;
Guidelines for mapping flood risks associated with dams, January 2018;
Manual for rehabilitation of large dams, January 2018;
Inspection Manual for Dam Field Engineers After Seismic Events, Ichari Dam, Uttarakhand, January 2018;
Technical Specifications of Hydro-meteorological, Geodetic, Geotechnical and Seismic Instruments, January 2018;
Guidelines for Assessing and Managing Risks Associated with Dams; February 2019;
Handbook for Assessing and Managing Reservoir Sedimentation, February 2019;
Inspection Manual for Dam Field Engineers after Seismic Events, Maithon Dam, Damodar Valley Corporation, Jharkhand, February 2019;
Guidelines for Classifying the Hazard Potential of Dams, November 2020;
Operational Procedures for Assessing and Managing Environmental Impacts in Existing Dam Projects, November 2020;
Manual for Assessing Structural Safety of Existing Dams, November 2020.
Apart from the above guidelines, few more guidelines have been prepared by other organisations:
Guidelines for community-based ecotourism development, WWF International, 2001;
Guidelines for maintaining longitudinal connectivity through dams, 2017;
ICOLD, "Selecting Seismic Parameters for Large Dams, Guidelines", Bulletin 148 Committee on Seismic Aspects of Dam Design, International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), Paris, 2014;
National Disaster Management Guidelines, 2007;
