Over 400 delegates from across the country and abroad discussed ways to further strengthen the safety of dams during a two-day conference which culminated here today.

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The third 'National Dam Safety Conference' focused on key challenges that are being encountered in the implementation of the Dam Safety Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP).

Dams have played a key role in fostering rapid and sustained agricultural and rural growth and development, which have been key priorities of the government of India since independence.

"The conference received an overwhelming response with over 400 delegates attending and submission of over 70 technical papers from experts within and outside India. About 40 national and overseas organisations showcased their technologies, products and services through exposition organised at the conference venue.

"The professionals from the USA, Australia, Japan, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Germany attended this event," an official release said.

Globally, India ranks third after China and the United States of America in terms of number of large dams with a total storage capacity of about 283 billion cubic meters.

"Close to 80 per cent of large dams have surpassed the age of twenty-five years, and many of them face the challenges of deferred maintenance.

"Many of these dams are considerably old (about 170 dams exceed the age of 100 years) and built in an era whose design practises and safety considerations do not match with the current design standards and the prevailing safety norm," the release said.

Water Resources Ministry Secretary Amarjit Singh had yesterday inaugurated the conference, organised by Central Water Commission (CWC) along with Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam and IIT-Roorkee. (MORE)

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)