Uttarakhand: Dam projects will have to tell what will be the impact of releasing water, Secretary Disaster Management gave instructions

Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman has directed all the dam projects operating in Uttarakhand that whenever they release water, they must share its prior information with the State Emergency Operations Center as well as the concerned district administration. Along with this, also clarify that in how much time the released water will reach which areas and what can be the impact there, so that the general public can be alerted in time.

The Secretary held a meeting with the officials of all the major hydropower projects of the state, Irrigation Department, U.J.V.N.L. and Central Water Commission in the Secretariat on Friday and gave necessary guidelines for preparations and safety in view of the monsoon. He directed the representatives of all the projects present in the meeting to share the river water level and discharge data received by the sensors installed under the early warning system with USDMA in real time through API, so that the water level can be monitored through the State Emergency Operations Center.

In the meeting, all the agencies were clearly directed to prepare emergency action plan and standard operating procedure (SOP) for their respective projects and share it with USDMA and also display it on their website. It was also decided in the meeting that a state level mock drill will be conducted with all the dam projects between August-September, 2025, through which the departmental preparations will be tested in a real disaster situation.

Along with this, instructions have also been given to the Irrigation Department to prepare a comprehensive action plan on flood management, which will include the SOP issued by the Government of India and the government orders issued by the Disaster Management Department. Along with this, all departments / agencies have been instructed to nominate one nodal officer each, who will exchange information and establish mutual coordination in case of disaster.

The Secretary said that it should be ensured that all technical systems are working smoothly and information is shared in a timely manner. Additional Chief Executive Officer Administration Anand Swaroop, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Implementation DIG Rajkumar Negi, Joint Chief Executive Officer Mohd. Obaidullah Ansari, Dr. Pooja Rana, Dr. Vedika Pant, Rohit Kumar, Hemant Bisht along with representatives of Irrigation Department, U.J.V.N.L., Central Water Commission, Tehri Hydro Power Corporation, NTPC Joshimath, NHPC Tanakpur and Dhauliganga, GVK Alaknanda Project, JP Group Vishnuprayag and Meteorological Center Dehradun were present in the meeting.