The Government has identified 243 dams for rehabilitation in four States – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh – to ensure their safety. A total of Rs 2,100 crore will be spent on the improvement work, to be completed in six years.

The plan will later include dams in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Damodar Valley Corporation, a senior Water Resources Ministry official said , adding that the list of dams had been provided by the respective States.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources has already held detailed discussions on the Dam Safety Bill. “It (the Bill) is with the Law Ministry and we hope it will be passed soon,” Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat said at a press conference to announce the India Water Week, to be held here from April 8-12.

He said the Ministry was holding a buyer-seller meet on various technologies available for dam improvement during the five-day conclave.

The India Water Week will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee on April 8, who will also launch the National Water Policy.

Around 1,758 registrations from 64 countries, mainly from West Asia, have been made so far for the conclave, Rawat said.

IPL and water

On the controversy over the reported use of almost nine lakh litres of water for maintaining the grounds for the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches in drought-hit Maharashtra, Rawat said the issue was under State jurisdiction, as water was a State subject.

“We can only advise the States that water is precious and should be used judiciously,” he said.

> aditi.n@thehindu.co.in

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