Development of Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for Tilaiya Dam

- A Case Study
Abhishek Shukla
Manager (Civil), Damodar Valley Corporation, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India

Aloke Banerjee
Dy. Manager (Civil), Damodar Valley Corporation, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India

ABSTRACT:
Dams, crucial structures erected across rivers, serve various purposes for the well-being of humanity.
Typically, of substantial size, these constructions store significant water volumes. The failure of such
structures is marked by the abrupt, uncontrolled discharge of stored water, often coinciding with severe
climatic events. This can result in catastrophic consequences, causing substantial loss of lives, property,
and severe environmental impacts. Consequently, it becomes imperative for dam owners to formulate
and execute an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) to mitigate the potential repercussions of an unlikely dam
failure event.
This paper delves into the development of a Tier-I EAP for Tilaiya Dam, owned by the Damodar Valley
Corporation (DVC) and situated in Hazaribagh and Koderma districts of Jharkhand. The process of
creating the EAP for Tilaiya Dam entailed documenting the dam's operational and safety evaluation
procedures, identifying potential emergencies, and classifying their severity levels, estimating conse-
quences through Dam Break Analysis for two failure scenarios (overtopping and sudden failure) and
Large Controlled releases, delineating the roles and responsibilities of relevant authorities during emer-
gencies, and identifying available resources. Numerical simulations, utilizing the HEC-RAS computer
program, were employed to simulate dam failure floods and large controlled releases based on two-
dimensional, depth-averaged flow equations.
The Damodar Valley Corporation developed Hazard classification, evacuation, and mitigation plans
using information derived from inundation maps. The finalized EAP will be shared with all stakeholders
for review and approval before its official endorsement.
Keywords – Safety of Dams, Dam failure, Inundation maps, Emergency Action Plan (EAP)

1 PURPOSE

India, positioned as the third-largest dam constructor globally, following the United States and China,
boasts a total of 7,162 large dams, including 411 currently under construction (as per the National Reg-
ister of Large Dams - 2023). Notably, approximately 80% of these dams have exceeded the two-decade
mark. Cumulatively, these sizable structures store over 300 billion cubic meters of water, serving diverse
purposes such as flood control, water supply, hydroelectric power generation, and irrigation. Given their
crucial role, ensuring the health and safety of these dams is paramount for their sustainable utilization
and the protection of people, property, and the environment.

An often-overlooked aspect in dam projects, despite its critical importance, is dam safety. Contempo-
rary dam safety practices adopt a holistic approach, categorized into three main facets: 1) Preventive
measures encompassing dam monitoring, comprehensive safety evaluations, and maintenance against
aging; 2) Corrective actions involving repair and rehabilitation methods; and 3) Emergency planning in
the event of dam failure. While effective operation and maintenance practices can mitigate the risk of
dam failures, unforeseen circumstances may arise, necessitating a contingency plan to address structural
or operational issues.

A well-conceived and executed Emergency Action Plan (EAP) represents a positive stride towards
achieving dam safety objectives. This plan should comprehensively address notification flow charts,
emergency conditions, inundation maps, emergency detection, evaluation and classification, and emer-
gency preparedness and implementation methodologies. Implementing an EAP requires coordinated ef-
forts from both dam-owning/operating agencies and disaster management authorities at district, state,
and national levels. The central idea is to establish a set of clear and simple procedures to safeguard
lives and prevent damage to the environment, ecology, infrastructure, and property resulting from an
uncontrolled outflow of water from dams.

2 DESCRIPTION

Tilaiya dam, managed by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), is located on the Barakar River
amidst the scenic landscapes of Hazaribagh and Koderma districts in Jharkhand, approximately 373 km
above its confluence with the Damodar River. The catchment area maps for Damodar Valley and Tilaiya
dam are illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, respectively. This dam is the first of four included in the initial
phase of the unified development program for the Damodar Valley and was completed in 1953. Spanning
365 meters, it is a concrete gravity dam with an ogee-type spillway featuring 14 crest gates, each meas-
uring 9.14 m in width and 3.05 m in height. The reservoir is anticipated to reach its Maximum Water
Level (MWL) at 372.47 m, with a capacity to handle a Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) of 4455 cumec.
A robust Flood Management Operation and monitoring system is already established based on the Dam-
odar Valley Reservoir Operation Manual. While maintaining the dams is crucial for safety, it is equally
important to be prepared for any emergencies resulting from dam failures. Consequence Analysis and
Evacuation plan
2.1 Development of Inundation Maps
One of the biggest advances in dam safety practices has been the evolution of computation technology
for flood routing for dam break scenarios, availability of free and accurate topographic data and satellite
imaging along with improvement of the software and methods of modelling. These data set and methods
can be utilised for assessing, modelling, and mapping of a dam failure flood for development of EAP.
The level of analysis correlates with the sophistication and accuracy of the analyses with the scale and
complexity of the dam and downstream area under investigation. In general, as the sophistication of the
modelling increases, so does the level of effort, time, and cost needed to carry out the analysis.
With the freely available data, Dam break studies of Tilaiya dam were carried out by for the following
two scenarios:
1. Dam failure scenario due to sudden collapse of Concrete block, when initial reservoir level is at
FRL under Inflow Design Flood.
2. Dam failure scenario due to sudden collapse of Concrete block, when reservoir level is at FRL
with no Inflow.
Inundation mapping were also carried out for following three non-breach scenarios:
1. A dam overtopping from the inflow design flood leading to uncontrolled release of water without
Dam breach under no gate operating condition.
2. A large controlled-release flood without dam failure under all gates operating condition.
3. Historical maximum release from the dam.
Dam breach floods and non-breach floods from Tilaiya dam were simulated by solving numerically
the two-dimensional, depth-averaged flow equations on an unstructured computational mesh using the
HEC-RAS computer program (Brunner 2016). Flooding caused by a steady large controlled-release
(LCR) and other non-breach scenarios from the reservoir was simulated to provide an idea of the hazard
produced by a non-failure event.
The digital elevation model (DEM) used to prepare the two-dimensional computational mesh to sim-
ulate flooding was derived from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) global digital surface
model (DSM) dataset with a horizontal resolution of approximately 30 meters (1 arc-sec). 2D mesh of
size 100 m X 100 m grid and Break line was forced along the river path at 50 m X 50 m mesh size.
LULC data of 10 m resolution obtained from Sentinel 2 were used for manning’s. Considering the high
meandering of river (more than 1.5 time the normal river path length), manning’s “n” for the river were
modified as per the guidelines of USGS Water Supply Paper 2339, 1989.
Inundation maps were prepared for each scenarios showing 1) maximum water depth, 2) maximum
water velocity, and 3) maximum water-surface elevation 4) Maximum Depth X Velocity as well as 5)
Time of arrival of flood. The outcome of the dam break models as well as inundation maps were used
for Hazard and Venerability Calculations for the affected settlements.

2.2 Development of Evacuation & Mitigation Plans

Using the results derived from the analysis of dam break scenarios and inundation maps, we examined
the dataset illustrating the maximum water depth in GIS. Subsequently, this information was exported
to Google Earth Pro to identify and mark settlements on the inundation maps. The identified settle-
ments underwent verification through cross-referencing with Google Satellite images, and select loca-
tions were confirmed through random field visits. Additionally, data concerning village boundaries,
panchayat boundaries, block boundaries, district boundaries, schools, hospitals, police stations, etc.,
were sourced from the Survey of India website. These datasets played a crucial role in marking shelter
points and assigning roles and responsibilities based on administrative jurisdiction. The severity of a
specific failure scenario in the area can be ascertained through the dam break analysis results. The
Guidelines for Mapping Flood Risks associated with Dams in 2018 further elaborate on hazard curves
and vulnerability thresholds, providing insights into the community's vulnerability when exposed to
floodwaters (refer to Table 1).

Table 1. Classification limits for vulnerability thresholds of combined hazard curves

Hazard Classification Limiting Still
Limiting Velocity
Vulnerability Limit Water Depth
(V, m/s)
Classification (D and V in combination, m²/s) (D, m)
H1 D×V ≤ 0.3 0.3 2.0
H2 D×V ≤ 0.6 0.5 2.0
H3 D×V ≤ 0.6 1.2 2.0
H4 D×V ≤ 1.0 2.0 2.0
H5 D×V ≤ 4.0 4.0 4.0
H6 D×V > 4.0 - -

Evacuation route for each settlement towards designated shelter points were also drawn in Google
Earth Pro. All the information marked in Google Earth Pro viz. Settlements, Shelter Points, Evacuation
Routes, bridges etc. were exported back into GIS platform for further processing with regard to deter-
mination Severity based on maximum water depth, maximum water velocity, maximum Depth X Ve-
locity. Time of arrival of flood at each settlement for each of the five scenarios were finally used to
develop an Inundation cum Evacuation based on the severity of the affected settlements. This was sup-
ported by a table of Flood Hazard Reference Value cum evacuation plan indicating all relevant infor-
mation useful during implementation of EAP. This marks the end of consequence analysis for each of
the failure scenarios and beginning of development of EAP of Tilaiya Dam.

3 DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFECTIVE EAP

Development of an effective EAP involves description of dam and its operation procedure, identification
of possible emergency situations, emergency level determination, dam break analysis or consequence
estimation, establishment of roles and responsibilities of all concerned, development of notification
flowchart and response procedure along with other information pertaining to resources and supplies,
media partners etc (Guidelines for developing EAP for Dams, CWC). The core idea of each of these
information is to minimize the information gap during emergency and clearly outlining WHO DOES
WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and HOW?
General data pertaining to Tilaiya Dam and its flood management operation guidelines were incorpo-
rated as per the available data and guidelines provided in CWC approved Damodar Valley Reservoir
Regulation Manual (DVRR) manual.
3.1 Roles & Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities of Dam Site engineers, Emergency Planning Managers, advisors of DVC
were tabulated as mentioned in Table 2. The responsibilities of evacuation were handed over to the
District Disaster Management Authorities of five districts, viz. Koderma, Hazaibagh, Giridih, Dhanbad
and Jamtara, as per their jurisdiction. The table of Flood Hazard Reference Values suggesting Flood
wave arrival time, evacuation route, shelter points etc. and the Inundation cum Evacuation Map as de-
veloped for five scenarios were also enclosed to serve as ready reference to the District Disaster Man-
agement Authorities.
Table 2. Roles & Responsibilities
Responsibility
Sl.No. Dam / Emergency Personnel
(During Normal & Emergency conditions)
1. Dam Site Engineers • Routine dam maintenance work.
• Monitoring & surveillance of dam and appurte-
Manager (Civil), DVC, Tilaiya nant structures including instruments & looking
for evidence of distress as mentioned under An-
Assistant Manager (Civil), DVC, nexure - 9.
Tilaiya • Notifying Dam Emergency Managers during any
potential emergency situations.
• As per advice, will operate dam gates / under-
sluices as well as contact the suppliers / resources
available for executing actions during emergen-
cies.
2. Emergency Planning Managers • Examine the distress conditions / emergency as
notified by site engineers and ensure to address
Sr. Manager (C), DVC, Maithon the issue immediately.
• Discuss the issue with Dy. Chief Engineer (Civil),
Water Resources, DVC, Maithon & Dy. Chief En-
gineer (Civil), E&P and other experts and follow
up the advice.
• Will contact the suppliers / resources available for
executing actions during emergencies and inform
dam site engineers to carry out the required action.
• Will establish Emergency Control Centre.
• Will classify the events into type of Emergency
alerts and direct specific, incident appropriate ac-
tions during an emergency.
• Will notify the Disaster Management Authority
and others as per the notification flow Chart.
• Will coordinate with the emergency team / person-
nel for initiating & implementing EAP.
3. Sr. Manager (Civil), MRO, DVC, • To issue release advices which shall be strictly ad-
Maithon hered to by the Dam Emergency Manager & Dam
Site Engineers.
• To contact with the Regional CWC offices for in-
tegrated reservoir operation in Damodar Valley
Area citing the emergency of Tilaiya Dam.
4. Sr. Manager (Civil), E&P, DVC, • To check for safety of the dam from design aspects
Maithon and advise / visit the dam site for any needful ac-
tions regarding structural stability.

3.2 Event Detection & Emergency Level Determination

It is the responsibility of dam site engineers to identify the situations or events that could trigger an
emergency condition which are unique to each dam. All the possible events and situations which could
result to emergency situation in Tilaiya dam were identified and documented in the EAP. The possible
failure conditions and their signs were also included in the document for early detection by dam site
engineers during routine inspections before triggering to the level of failure. Each condition / sign was
classified into one of the established emergency levels - BLUE, ORANGE & RED, based on the severity
of the initiating condition or triggering events.
A BLUE emergency level does not lead to immediate threat however, the situation needs to be mon-
itored closely to make sure the condition does not worsen.
An ORANGE emergency level depicts a condition that will probably cause the dam to fail and pro-
duce a devastating flood. The Dam Site Engineers will initiate immediate repairs and keep monitoring
the overall situation and take necessary actions for notification.
A RED emergency level is triggered when dam failure is about to occur or has already occurred. An
order for evacuation of residents will be issued immediately by the Emergency planning Manager /
disaster management team.
A general information related to previous known problems were also included the EAP of Tilaiya dam
to enable Dam Site Engineers to look for the possible failure conditions. Preventive measures shall im-
mediately be taken in an emergency to prevent the catastrophic failure of the dam, but such repairs
should be undertaken with extreme caution. Appropriate notification procedure must be followed when
any of the above conditions are met. Assistance from other local jurisdictions, agencies, and industry, or
contractors for supply of equipment, materials, or personnel as mentioned in the EAP shall be taken as
per requirement.

3.3 Notification Flowchart & Communication

The complete development process of the Emergency Action Plan (EAP) involves establishing a coor-
dination mechanism among various agencies, defining their roles and responsibilities, and outlining ac-
tions to minimize loss of life, environmental damage, and property loss. A useful tool in emergency
situations is a notification flowchart, which illustrates pertinent information such as the sequence of
notifications and contact numbers.

The Emergency Planning Managers oversee the monitoring of emergency situations at the dam. They
keep authorities informed based on the Notification Flowcharts and are responsible for declaring the
termination of an emergency at the dam. In the event of an imminent failure, District Disaster Manage-
ment Authorities, local officials, and downstream residents must be notified promptly. This notification
can be done through landline telephone if available, or alternatively, through cell phones or emergency
personnel using radios. Contact numbers for this purpose are included in the Notification Flowchart and
the Flood Hazard Reference Value table.

To disseminate information to the public, a Public Announcement will be made through the local radio
network, television, and jeeps. The document includes a sample public announcement and contact num-
bers of broadcasting partners.

3.4 Supplies and Resources

Should In the event that Damodar Valley Corporation personnel and resources are insufficient during an
emergency, requests for assistance may be directed to other local jurisdictions, agencies, and industry as
required. This assistance could encompass equipment, supplies, or personnel. All agreements would be
formally established by authorized officials and, whenever feasible, documented in writing. Emergency
Planning Managers would possess the authority to initiate agreements as necessary to avert dam failure.
A list of local contractors available for emergency equipment provision has been compiled.

3.5 Other requirement

It is essential to consistently maintain pertinent data, such as pre-monsoon and post-monsoon inspec-
tions of the dam, to assess its structural integrity, stability, and operational sufficiency. In case of an
unusual incident, consulting these reports, especially the accompanying photographs, can prove advan-
tageous for identifying potential issues.Technical records, including drawings and inspection reports,
must be securely stored and diligently managed at both the Tilaiya Dam Site office and the Emergency
Operations Centre at the dam site. All emergency personnel affiliated with DVC, Tilaiya Dam, should
be well-acquainted with the document locations to facilitate quick access in emergency situations.

4 CONCLUSION

The ramifications of a dam failure are grave, potentially resulting in the loss of thousands of lives and
widespread destruction of properties, accompanied by irreversible harm to the environment and ecology.
Therefore, the implementation of a robust emergency plan is crucial in mitigating the extent of the im-
pact caused by a dam failure. The significance of having an effective emergency plan and executing it
during a disaster cannot be overstated. Numerous instances from the past underscore the role of efficient
emergency preparedness in saving thousands of lives and properties worth millions. In anticipation of
such emergencies, an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) for the Tilaiya Dam of DVC has been developed.
This EAP aims to establish a structured mechanism to address potential emergency situations. The fi-
nalized EAP will be disseminated to all relevant parties, and a stakeholders' meeting will be convened
shortly to gather input for further enhancements before the document is officially published.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Authors are grateful to Executive Director (Civil), without their encouragement it was not possible to
take up this study. The views expressed in this article are solely of the Authors and no way related to the
views of the organization.

REFERENCES:

1. Central Water Commission, New Delhi, 2016, Flood Inundation Maps for Tilaiya Dam, Jharkhand
2. Central Water Commission, New Delhi, 2016, Guidelines for Developing Emergency Action Plans for Dams
3. Central Water Commission, New Delhi, 2018, Guidelines for Mapping Flood Risks Associated with Dams
4. David Gonzalez et al, International Dam Safety Conference, 2018, The two faces of the Emergency Action
Plan for dams. Development & Implementation.
FIGURES

Figure 1. Catchment Area Map of DVC

 Fig-
ure 2. Catchment Area Map of Tilaiya

Fig 3.1 Inundation mapping for Dam breach scenario under Inflow Design Flood
Fig 3.2 Inundation mapping for Large Control Release under all gate operating scenario.