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Large dams and the twin towers
THE HORROR of WTC's twin towers falling down on September 11 has changed the perspective of many countries in many fields. Among other things a reappraisal of what is vulnerable and what is not has commenced. In the October 20 issue of The Hindu, it is reported that France has drawn up a list for special precautions being taken and that list includes large dams, large in the French context.
Dams in India are larger. While France has no hostile neighbour, India has one ready to exploit any sign of weakness. If France feels constrained to protect its large dams we should be even more so in the changed world scenario.
Earthy question
As a matter of fact we should have been so even earlier. When Khruschev came visiting in 1953 or thereabouts a sightseeing tour was arranged and Bhakra-Nangal was in that itinerary. Nehru wanted to impress him with Indian skills in achieving great things. But Khruschev was not impressed. He was a very earthy person having come up from the ranks to the topmost job in his country. And an earthy question he asked was why we built such a dam so close to the border. What would happen if the dam was bombed? The accurate answer should have been that a sizeable part of Punjab would then be under water. The officer showing Khruschev around tactfully replied that he was only an engineer and was not concerned with political problems.
More dams have been built since then. Two are currently immersed in controversies, the Tehri and the Sardar Sarovar, for different reasons — earthquakes in the first and displaced persons in the second. The maximum intensity of earthquakes so far in the Tehri belt has been 6.5 and the Tehri dam is being built to withstand an intensity of 9.5. The safety factor provided is adequate, so it is said. But no seismologist seems to have averred that a 9.5 intensity earthquake will never occur. The chances may be slim but if that slim chance does materialise then woe to U.P.! There is no such risk in the second case.
Dams have become legitimate targets in an all-out war and as usual the democratic West has set the precedents. During the Second World War British planes bombed out a dam in Germany and they did so at night so that the people below might be washed away in their sleep without being put to the trouble of finding a way out in the dark.
The security atmosphere has now changed for the worse everywhere. More so for India than for others, for it has been announced that India is on the hit list. It is reported (The Hindu, October 20) that the Al-Badr outfit of Pakistan claims to have adherents everhwhere in India ready to wreak havoc.
A case for reappraisal
Irrespective of what has been decided in the past there is now a case for reappraisal of large dams under construction and of those envisaged for the future. Is it not possible to build instead a series of small dams along the course of the river whose total output may be nearly the same as that of one large dam. Perhaps it may not be possible to do so in every case but investigations may reveal alternatives in several cases and I am sure that our engineers are sufficiently innovative to make use of them. The costs may be higher but the risks and collateral damage may be lower.
V. RAMANATHAN
General Manager (Retd.),
Indian Railways
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