THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) Central Water Commission (CWC) maintains a National Register of Large Dams (NRLD) based on information received from State Governments. As per NRLD - 2019, there are 5334 completed large dams and 411 large dams are under construction in India. The State wise details of completed large dams and under construction large dams are at Annexure-I.
(b) to (e) Government has decided to develop uniform procedures for ensuring the safety of existing and new dams through proposed Dam Safety Bill, 2019.
The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 aims to provide robust legal and institutional framework under Central & State Governments for safety of dams. The Bill envisages prevention and mitigation of dam failure related disasters through proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance. The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 addresses all the issues concerning dam safety including regular inspection of dams, emergency action plans, comprehensive dam safety review, instrumentation and safety manuals. It lays the onus (accountability) of dam safety on the dam owner/ concerned organisations and provides for penal provisions for commission & omission of certain acts against offenders. The Bill provides that every owner of specified dams shall earmark sufficient and specific funds for maintenance and repairs of the specified dams.
The Bill provides for constitution of a ‘National Committee on Dam Safety’ to evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations. It provides for establishment of ‘National Dam Safety Authority’ (NDSA) as a regulatory body to implement the policy, guidelines and standards for dam safety in the country.
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The Bill also provides for constitution of ‘State Committee on Dam Safety’ by the State Governments to ensure proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in the State and to ensure their safe functioning.
As per Dam Safety Bill 2019, every State has to establish a State Dam Safety Organisation, manned by officers from the field of dam safety preferably from the areas of dam-designs, hydro-mechanical engineering, hydrology, geo-technical investigation, instrumentation and dam-rehabilitation.
As per the proposed Dam Safety Bill 2019, the functions assigned to NCDS are:
i) For the purpose of maintain standards of dam safety and prevention of dam failure related disasters, evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations as may be required;
ii) Act as a forum for exchange of views on techniques to be adopted for remedial measures to relieve distress conditions in specified dams and appurtenant structures;
iii) Analyse the causes of major dam incidents and dam failure and suggest changes in the planning, specifications, construction, operation and maintenance practices in order to avoid recurrence of such incidents and failures;
iv) Evolve comprehensive dam safety management approach as an integration of dam safety evaluation, risk assessment and risk management for the desired level of safety assurance; and also explore compensations, by means of insurance coverage for the people affected by dam failures;
v) render advice on any specific matter relating to dam safety which may be referred to it by the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be;
vi) make recommendations on a request by the Central Government on safety measures in respect of dams located outside the territory of India;
vii) make recommendations on the rehabilitation requirements of ageing dams;
viii) provide strategic supervision for such dam rehabilitation programmes that are executed in States through Central or externally aided funding;
ix) identify areas of research and development for dam safety and recommend for provision of funds;
x) make recommendations on the coordinated reservoir operations of cascading dams;
xi) any other specific matter relating to dam safety which may be referred to it by the Central Government.
(f) At drafting stage, the Bill was circulated to all States/UTs for consultation on 09.08.2016. Most of the States supported the proposed Bill. State of Kerala and Tamil Nadu raised objections that water being State subject, there is need to review the need of the Bill.
Kerala stated that their State already has statutory provisions in place for maintenance of dams. Tamil Nadu raised concerns regarding ownership of dams and reservoirs which are owned, operated and maintained by a State, but located in another State.
The proposed Bill was discussed threadbare along with the inputs received from various States/UTs in the meeting of 37th meeting of NCDS held on 18.02.2017. As per the outcome of the meeting, the Dam Safety Bill has been modified and finalized in consultation with Legislative Department to address apprehensions of the States.
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Annexure-I
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Unstarred Question No. 5446 to be answered in Lok Sabha on 25.07.2019 regarding “Safety of Dams for answer on”.
State wise details of completed Large Dams and under Construction Large Dams
Sl.No. Name of state/UT No. of Completed Dams No. of Dams under Construction
1 Andaman & Nicobar Island 2
2 Andhra Pradesh 149 17
3 Arunachal Pradesh 1 3
4 Assam 3 1
5 Bihar 24 2
6 Chhattisgarh 249 9
7 Goa 5
8 Gujarat 620 12
9 Himachal Pradesh 19 1
10 Haryana 1
11 Jammu & Kashmir 15 2
12 Jharkhand 55 24
13 Karnataka 230 2
14 Kerala 61
15 Madhya Pradesh 899 7
16 Maharashtra 2117 277
17 Manipur 3 1
18 Meghalaya 8 2
19 Mizoram 1
20 Nagaland 1
21 Odisha 200 4
22 Punjab 14 2
23 Rajasthan 204 8
24 Sikkim 2
25 Tamil Nadu 118
26 Telangana 168 16
27 Tripura 1
28 Uttar Pradesh 117 13
29 Uttarakhand 17 8
30 West Bengal 30
TOTAL 5334 411
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