Central Water Commission

The Central Water Commission (CWC) is a premier technical organisation in the country in the field of Water Resources since 1945. The Commission is charged with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering, in consultation with the state governments concerned, schemes for control, conservation and utilisation of water resources throughout the country, for purposes of flood control, irrigation, drinking water supply and hydro power development. It also undertakes investigation, construction and execution of any such schemes as required.The CWC is headed by a Chairman, who also holds the status of Ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India. It has three technical wings, namely.

• Design and Research,
• Water Planning and Projects and
• River Management.

Each of the wings is headed by an engineering officer designated as Member, with the Ex-officio status of an Additional Secretary to the Government of India. The wings consist of organisations headed by Chief Engineers, with Directorates under them, each headed by a Director/S.E. Altogether there are 32 organisations and 147 Directorates/Circles.

There are thirteen regional organisations of CWC which are functioning from Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Nagpur, Patna, Shillong, Siliguri and Vadodara, each headed by a Chief Engineer. These organisations closely interact with the states and are entrusted with the monitoring of medium and major projects, appraisal of medium projects, flood forecasting and hydrological observations. More and more activities like monitoring of command area development, Rehabilitation and Renovation of water bodies, minor irrigation and other water management activities are now being taken up by these organisations.

Broad Functions of CWC

Main functions of CWC are :

• To undertake necessary surveys and investigations as and when so required, to prepare designs and schemes for the development of river valleys in respect of hydro power generation, irrigation by gravity flow or lift, flood management, environmental management, rehabilitation and resettlement, soil conservation, anti-water logging measures, reclamation of alkaline and saline soils, drainage and for drinking water supply
• To advise and assist, when so required, the State governments (Commissions, Corporations or Boards that are set up) in the investigation, surveys and preparation of river valley and hydro power development schemes for particular areas and regions
• To undertake construction work of any river valley development scheme on behalf of the Government of India or State Government concerned
• To collect, coordinate the collection of, publish and analyse the data relating to tidal rivers, rainfall, run-off and temperature, silting of reservoirs, behavior of hydraulic structures, environmental aspects, etc., and to act as the Central Bureau of Information in respect of these matters
• To collect, maintain and publish statistical data relating to water resources and its utilisation including quality of water throughout India and to act as the Central Bureau of Information relating to water resources
• To promote modern data collection techniques such as remote sensing technology for water resources development and river forecasting and development of computer software
• To initiate morphological studies to visualise river behaviour, bank erosion/ coastal erosion problems and advise the Central and State governments on all such matters
• To advise the Government of India in respect of Water Resources Development, regarding rights and disputes between different States referred to the Commission in connection with river valley development
• To advise the Government of India and the concerned State governments on the basin-wise development of water resources
• To advise the Government of India with regard to all matters relating to the Inter-State water disputes
• To institute studies on socio-agro-economic and ecological aspects of irrigation projects for the sustained development of irrigation
• To conduct and coordinate research on the various aspects of river valley development schemes such as flood management, irrigation, hydro power development, etc., and the connected structural and design features;
• To conduct experiments, research and to carry out such other activities as will promote economic and optimum utilisation of water resources
• To conduct studies on dam safety aspects for the existing and future dams and standardise the instruments for dam safety measures
• To standardise instruments, methods of observation and record, materials for construction, design and operation of irrigation projects
• To initiate schemes and arrange for the training of Indian Engineers in India and abroad in all aspects of river valley development and
• To promote and create mass awareness in the progress and achievement made by the country in the water resources development, use and conservation.
  

Central Soil and Material Research Station

The Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS), New Delhi is a premier national institute of the country, devoted to research and investigations, primarily in geo-technical engineering, construction materials and concrete technology. In addition to water resources sector involving hydroelectric and irrigation projects, CSMRS has been undertaking the challenging works pertaining to nuclear and super-thermal power projects, and other construction works. The Research Station also functions as consultant in India and for neighboring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan for projects and for organisations dealing with such works in the following areas of its specialisation: Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Soil Dynamics, Rock Fill Technology, Geo-textile, Grout Technology, Drilling Technology; Engineering Geophysics, Rock Engineering; Construction Materials and Concrete Technology; Geotechnical Instrumentation and Chemical aspects of Water and Engineering Materials.

In addition to providing input to the designers for major important projects, Research Station’s expertise is utilised in all types of challenging situations pertaining to irrigation and hydroelectric projects of the country be that quality assurance of prestigious projects like Tehri Hydroelectric Project, Uttaranchal or assessment of safety for dams in distress or engineering assessment for building hydroelectric projects on weak rocks. Training of field personnel of Central and State governments and Public Sector Enterprises in core areas is another important activity of the Research Station.

This Research Station is at present executing Institutional Cooperation Programme with Norwegian Geo-technical Institute in the field of Investigation of "Geological Hazards in Dam Reservoirs for Safety of Downstream Structures".