Nepal Dam Safety and Disaster Risk Management

The Project Development Objectives are to: (a) strengthen the capacity of the
power sector agencies to plan and prepare hydropower and transmission line
projects following international standards and best practices; and (b) improve
the readiness of the power sector agencies for regulatory and institutional
reforms. Component 1 Develop a roadmap to prepare Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Plan for the Arun Valley. The primary objective will be to develop a DRM Plan for the Upper Arun Valley. The DRM Plan will help the client and the Bank team to establish the necessary and critical workflows, data gathering and sharing mechanisms, and channels of communications between both national and international agencies. It will also help bring together stakeholders including members of the affected communities. Key Output: A DRM plan for the Arun Valley will be developed to define disaster risk in the Arun Valley and establish a framework and strategy for a physical infrastructure investment program. Component 2 Dam Safety Regulation. The Government of Nepal has for the first time addressed dam safety in the proposed draft Electricity Bill 2077 which is being presented in the Parliament for ratification. The Bill deals with inspection, operation and maintenance of dams. This component will help recruit local and international experts to advise on the clauses of the Electricity Bill related to dam safety and based on international best practice how they can be improved. Similarly international best practice on how dam safety introduced in legislation is institutionalized. Key Output: • Advisory note to the Government of Nepal on world class, modern, risk informed dam safety regulations and standards that will ensure the planned future development of hydropower plants in the country.• Inputs to the Electricity Act 2077 • Specific mapping of government agencies and institutions involved in dam safety• Advice on institutionalizing dam safety Component 3 Dam safety seismic guidelines. The seismic guidelines will provide an overview of the entire process of conducting a seismic hazard assessment, process of selecting design earthquakes and earthquake ground motion, and performing seismic design analyses of dams and appurtenant structures. It will provide guidance on how to take this information and design safe dams. The guidelines will be based on seism tectonic features of Nepal and provide direction for seismic hazard assessment, ground motion development, and seismic design/evaluation of hydropower projects to ensure designs in compliance with international best practice and an acceptable level of safety consistent with the seismicity of Nepal.Key Outputs:• Consultations with national authorities and communities on DRM and seismic protection in Nepal • Seismic design guidelines can be used by the Government of Nepal to improve resilience of dam infrastructure investments• Dissemination and training workshops of the guidelines. • Government better informed about how dam developers should be adhering to modern seismic design guidelines that are developed for country specific conditions • Increased awareness among engineers, planners, policy makers and public about seismic design that leads to safe dams • Strengthened capacity of various stakeholders for designing dams