Dam Safety Bill 2019

The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Rationale for Introduction of Bill

The following reasons have added to governments urge to establish a national authority to tackle the lack of legal and institutional safeguards for managing dams in the country:

• There are about 5,344 large dams in India and of those around 293 are more than 100 years old and 1,041 are 50 to 100 years old.
• Around 92% of these dams are on inter-State rivers, and accidents at many of them have spurred concerns as to the frequency and efficiency of their maintenance.
• Recently Tiware dam in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra’s Konkan region breached and the people blamed that government had neglected their pleas for the repair of the dam even when they had complained that cracks had been spotted in the structure.

Features of the Bill

• The bill provides for setting up of the National Committee on Dam Safety to formulate policies and regulations regarding dam safety standards and to analyse causes of major dam failures to suggest changes in safety practices.
• The bill provides for National Dam Safety Authority for implementation of Dam safety policies.
• The Bill provides for surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of dams to prevent disasters, and institutional mechanisms to ensure safety.
• The provisions of the bill are applicable to all dams across the country which are over 10 metres in height, subject to specific design and structural conditions.
• The Bill provides for the constitution of a State Dam Safety Organisation to take care of its dams, and a State Committee on Dam Safety to review its work, among other things.

Concerns of State Governments

The objections of state governments are two-fold:

• Water comes under the State list and the states argue the bill is an unconstitutional move aimed at taking control of their dams.
• Section 23(1) of the Bill provides that if the dams of one State fall under the territories of another, then the National Dam Safety Authority will perform the role of State Dam Safety Organisation to eliminate potential causes for inter-State conflicts.
• The state of Tamil Nadu is concerned that access and information on four of its dams, including the conflict-ridden Mullaiperiyar, would have to be shared with Kerala, where they are located.
• States argue that the bill encroaches upon the sovereignty of States to manage their dams, and violates the principles of federalism enshrined in the Constitution.
• The bill also provides for Central Water Commission as a member of the NCDS which is envisaged as a regulatory body. This means that CWC will function as both an advisor and regulator, which is impermissible under the Constitution due to the potential conflict of interest.

The attempt for the dam safety bill was first made in August 2010 and was referred to a standing committee, which submitted its report on June 2011. After this, attempts to pass the Bill in the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha failed due to opposition from the States.