2025: Dam Safety Issues in India

December 12, 2025December 12, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: A worn out portion of Singur dam embankment. Source)

This annual overview presents top ten reports highlighting the dam safety issues in India. Worryingly, the central govt in Oct. 2025 itself has revealed that safety audit of about 5000 large dams is pending. Before this, the NHRC in Feb. 2025 sought a report on safety of the dams across the country. The plea rightly demanded a transparent, accountable and participatory dam safety mechanism to prevent disasters. Indeed, the aging infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, slow progress of rehabilitation and fast changing climate are among the key issues putting our dams under threats.

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Dam Disaster

Six die in Markonahalli Dam disaster in Karnataka in Oct 2025

October 9, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

In a dam induced tragedy, six people died, of them four bodies have been found and two more are being searched for. This happened after gates of the Markonahalli dam across Shimsha river (a 221 km long tributary of Cauvery River) in Mandya district in Karnataka suddenly opened on Oct 7 at around 3.30 pm. The tragedy occurred in a village near Yadiyur in Kunigal taluk of Tumakuru district on the border of Tumakuru and Mandya districts, about 100 km from Bengaluru. The Hindu reported earlier in Oct 2000 that the dam gates are poorly maintained.

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Oct 2025: Bhutan’s Tala Dam Overtopped

October 7, 2025October 11, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

In a major scary incident, the Tala Dam on Wangchhu River in Chukha district of south Bhutan has overtopped for the first time ever, on Oct 5 following unprecedented rainfall in western Bhutan, prompting flood warnings for downstream areas in India’s north Bengal. Bhutan’s NCHM confirmed that DGPC reported that the dam gates failed to open, leading to river water flowing over the dam, considered most dangerous situation for any dam as dams are not designed for such an eventuality.

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Dam Safety

2024 Dam Safety

January 26, 2025January 26, 2025 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner M. Sivaguru Prabakaran inspecting the Siruvani dam on January 8, 2025. Photo, Text Source: The Hindu)

This annual overview complies the remaining relevant reports from 2024 concerning safety of dam structures in India. As per a report, the incident of damage to Tungabhadra dam gate in August 2024, raised alarm for other aging dams in Karnataka. In fact, the Bhadra dam also witnessed jamming of a gate due to rust in June 2024. Similarly, the Kabini reservoir has been dealing with a leakage for the past three years. The report further highlights negligence in dams’ monitoring and inadequate expertise and corruption often impacting the quality of maintenance works of dams in the state. As per another report taking sou moto action, the Karnataka High Court in January 2024, banned mining and blasting activities within a 20 km radius of the Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the state.

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DRP News Bulletin

DRP NB 14×24: Big Dams, Long distance water will not solve Urban Water Crisis

October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

In a pointed article this week, Sachin Tiwale rightly writes that Mumbai does not need more dams, but needs to fix the distribution of more than enough water that it gets currently. Same is the case with highly capital and energy intensive 5^th stage of Cauvery Water Supply being inaugurated on Oct 16 by the Karnataka Chief Minister and Deputy CM for Bangalore, advertised through full page advertisements today (Oct 14) in newspapers in Bangalore.

What the India’s cities need is to exhaust the potential of local water resources, including rain water, local water bodies including rivers, groundwater recharge, recycle and reuse of treated sewage and also demand side measures, including fixing the distribution and reducing transmission and distribution losses. All of this needs attention through a National Urban Water Policy that will also fix the Urban Water Governance.

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Hydro Disaster

July 2024: USDMA Clueless on Flashflood Disaster at Vishnugad Pipalkoti HEP

July 18, 2024July 19, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature Image: Screenshot of social media video showing flash flood imapct at HCC’s batching plant during intervening night of July 15-16, 2024.)

The batching plant at the controversial under construction Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Power (HEP) project site in Uttarakhand has suffered significant damages due to a flash flood incident during the intervening night of July 15-16, 2024. The plant belongs to the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and has been set up by the Alaknanda river downstream the dam of 444 Mw HEP project adjacent to it dumping yard at Gulabkoti in Helang area of Joshimath tehsil in Chamoli district.

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Dam Disaster

May 2024: Questions about NDSA interim report on Kaleshwaram Dam Disaster

May 8, 2024May 9, 2024 SANDRPLeave a comment

The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) Chairman Shri Anil Jain has through a letter dated May 1, 2024, sent an interim report of the NDSA committee to the Telangana govt. The 16 page interim report titled: “RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE INTERIM MEASURES AND FURTHER STUDIES/INVESTIGATIONS TO BE TAKEN UP BY IRRIGATION & CAD DEPARTMENT, BEFORE THE ONSET OF COMING MONSOON” came as an annexure to the letter addressed to Rahul Bojja, Irrigation and Command Area Department (I & CAD) of Govt of Telangana.

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Dam Safety

Dam Safety Panel report of Medigadda Dam Disaster indicts Telangana, L&T and Dam Safety in India

November 3, 2023November 15, 2023 SANDRP6 Comments

The Dam Safety Panel from Union Ministry of Jal Shakti has submitted its report on Nov 1, 2023, which says the disaster at the Medigadda Dam occurred “due to a combination of issues involving planning, design, quality control and Operation and maintenance” of the Dam. The report concludes: “The barrage under the present condition is rendered useless until fully rehabilitated.”

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Dam Disaster

Glacial Lake FLood destroys Teesta-3 Dam in Sikkim, brings wide-spread destruction

October 4, 2023November 7, 2023 SANDRPLeave a comment

A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) that originated at South Lhonak Glacial Lake at around 00.40 hours on Oct 4, 2023, washed away the 60 m high dam of Sikkim’s biggest hydropower project, the 1200 MW Teesta 3 HEP. The flood has brought unprecedented disaster all along the river in Sikkim and further downstream in W Bengal and then Bangladesh. Central Water Commission (CWC) reported early in the morning of Oct 4 that there was cloud burst at the site of the lake burst, the cloud burst could have played the role in triggering the lake burst. (Feature image above: A combination of before after photos of Teesta 3 dam put together by Siddharth Agarwal.)

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Dam Safety

2022: Growing Concerns over Dam Safety, Sustainability & Impacts

December 26, 2022December 30, 2022 SANDRPLeave a comment

(Feature image: Breach in Karam dam, MP in Aug. 2022. Dainik Jagran)

This annual overview is focused on issues concerning structural and operational safety of dams that arose in 2022. It includes issues related to how climatic threats and siltation is making the large dams unsustainable. It also highlights the impacts of dams on river eco-system and riverine people amid some corrective measures being taken by the various state and central governments including the formation of National Dam Safety Authority.

Please see for links to SANDRP’s analysis on the issues in 2022 in India covering: (1) Dam induced floods, (2) Dam safety and related issues of Polavaram project, (3) Disasters and accidents caused by hydro power projects in Himalayan states, (4) Growing and ongoing resistance against destructive dams and hydro projects, (5) Fly ash dam breaches.

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