DAM Safety
Real, time digital twins for India's dam safety and forecasting
Contact:
m.sharma@eq.iitr.ac.in
Vision
Zero 'surprise' dam failures across India with a real, time digital nervous system protecting 6,586 large dams and the millions living downstream.
Problem
India's 1,800+ ageing dams rely on analogue, fragmented monitoring systems that cannot detect seepage, fault, reactivation, GLOFs or landslide triggers in time to prevent failure.
Solution
Three sensing pillars: OFC distributed fibre, LiDAR, hydrological instruments, and dense MEMS seismic (BHUSense), feeding four RCCs and continuously updated Digital Twins for real, time structural health and early warning.
Potential
Scalable from 50 pilot dams to all 6,586 national large dams; BHUSense export to South Asia, Africa, and SE Asia; projected ₹80 Cr annual revenue self, sufficiency by Year 8.
Target Beneficiaries
NDSA, CWC, State Dam Safety Organisations, NHPC/NTPC hydropower operators, 50 million downstream communities, MoJS, World Bank/ADB dam rehabilitation programmes, and partnering nations.
Current Users
Active instrumentation at 50+ dam and landslide sites; BHUSense nodes in Zone IV, V; MoUs with Concordia, REFTEK (Canada), ESRI, NGI Norway, and Western Sydney University.
