Lok Sabha Question No. 2742 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-02
Subject: Dam Safety Bill
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: PONGULETI SRINIVASA REDDY, BALKA SUMAN, K. GOPAL, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY

2742.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO. 2742

## ANSWERED ON 02.0 8.201 8

## DAM SAFETY BILL

SHRI PONGULETI SRINIVASA REDDY SHRI SUMAN BALKA DR. K. GOPAL SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN

Will the Minister of WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

(a) the details of operational and under construction dams in the country along with the dam failures which occurred in the recent past, State - wise;

(b) whether the Government has drafted a Dam Safety Bill and decided to bring a legis help/develop uniform procedures for ensuring the safety of existing and new dams and i details and the salient features thereof;

(c) whether the Government plans to give statutory powers to the Central Commission(CWC),  the  National  Committee  on  Dam  Safety  (NCDS),  Central  Dam  Safety Organization (CDSO) and State Dam Safety Organisations (SDSOs) and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether constitution of a National Committee on the dam safety is also proposed there if so, the details thereof along with the duties to be assigned to it; and

(e) whether certain States have raised objections on the issue and if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES, RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND GANGA REJUVENATION & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

## ( SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHW AL )

(a) Central Water Commission (CWC) maintains the National Register of Large Dams (NRLD) based on information received from the State Governments. As per NRLD, there are 5264 dams completed and 437 large dams under construction in India. Number of dam failures re in India is 36. The State wise details of completed large dams, under construction large dams an dam failures reported is at Annexure .

(b) to (d) Yes ,Madam .Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR) has drafted Dam Safety Bill, 2018. The Cabinet has approved the proposal for introduction of Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in the Parliament in its meeting dated 13.06.2018.

The Dam Safety Bill, 2018 aims to provide robust legal and institutional framework Central & State Governments for safety of dams. The Bill envisages prevention and mitigation of dam failure related disasters through proper surveillance, inspection, operation and mai all dams in the country.

The  Bill  provides  for  constitution  of  a  'National  Committee  on  Dam  Safety  (NCDS)'  to evolve dam safety policies and recommend necessary regulations. NCDS is proposed to be c by  Chairman,  CWC.    The  Bill  provides  for  establishment  of  'National  Dam  Safety  Authority' (NDSA) as a regulatory body to implement the policy, g uidelines and standards for dam safety in the country.

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 dams in the State and to ensure their safe functioning.

As per Dam S afety Bill 2018, every State has to establish a State Dam Safety Organi manned by officers from the field of dam safety preferably from the areas of dam - design , hy ro -mechanical engineering, hydrology, geo - technical investigation, instrumentation a nd damrehabilitation.

The NDSA is mandated in the Bill to:

- i . maintain  liaison  with  the  State  Dam  Safety  Organisations  and  the  owners  of  dam standardisation of dam safety related data and practices;
- ii . provide  the  technical  and  managerial  assi stance  to  the  States  and  State  Dam  Safety Organisations;
- iii . maintain a national level data - base of all dams in the country and the records of major d failures;
- iv . examine  the cause of any major dam failure;
- v. publish and update the standard guidelines and ch eck- lists  for the routine inspection and detailed investigations of dams and appurtenances;
- vi . accord  recognition  or  accreditations  to  the  organisations  that  can  be  entrusted works of investigation, design or construction of new dams; and
- vii . resolve issue  between the State Dam Safety Organisation of states, or between the Dam Safety Organisation and the owner of a dam in that State.

In certain cases, such as where a dam is extended over two or more States or dams of falling under the territory of another State, the National Authority has to perform the role Dam Safety Organization thereby eliminating potential causes for inter - state conflicts.

(e) 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 o that water being State subject, there is need to review the need of the Bill.

Kerala stated that their State already has statutory provisions i n place for maintenance of Dams. Tamil Nadu raised concerns regarding ownership of dams and reservoirs which are ow operated and maintained by a State, but located in another State.

The proposed Bill was discussed threadbare along with the inputs recei ved from various States/UTs in the meeting of 37 th meeting of National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) held on 18.02.2017. As per the outcome of the meeting, the Dam Safety Bill, 2018 has been modif finalized in consultation with Legislative Departme nt to address apprehensions of the States.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of  Unstarred Question No. 2742 to be answere Lok Sabha on 02.08.2018 regarding 'Dam Safety Bill'.

State wise details of completed Large Dams, under Construction Large Dams and Dam Failur

| Sl.No.   | Name of state/UT         | No. of Completed Dams   | No. of Dams under Construction   | No. of Dam failures reported   |
|----------|--------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman & Nicobar Island | 2                       |                                  |                                |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh           | 142                     | 25                               | 2                              |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh        | 1                       | 3                                |                                |
| 4        | Assam                    | 3                       | 1                                |                                |
| 5        | Bihar                    | 24                      | 2                                |                                |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh             | 248                     | 10                               |                                |
| 7        | Goa                      | 5                       |                                  |                                |
| 8        | Gujarat                  | 620                     | 12                               | 5                              |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh         | 19                      | 1                                |                                |
| 10       | Haryana                  | 1                       |                                  |                                |
| 11       | Jammu & Kashmir          | 14                      | 3                                |                                |
| 12       | Jharkhand                | 50                      | 29                               |                                |
| 13       | Karnataka                | 230                     | 1                                |                                |
| 14       | Kerala                   | 61                      | 1                                |                                |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh           | 899                     | 7                                | 10                             |
| 16       | Maharashtra              | 2069                    | 285                              | 4                              |
| 17       | Manipur                  | 3                       | 1                                |                                |
| 18       | Meghalaya                | 8                       |                                  |                                |
| 19       | Mizoram                  |                         | 1                                |                                |
| 20       | Nagaland                 | 1                       |                                  |                                |
| 21       | Odisha                   | 199                     | 5                                | 1                              |
| 22       | Punjab                   | 14                      | 2                                |                                |
| 23       | Rajasthan                | 209                     | 2                                | 11                             |
| 24       | Sikkim                   | 2                       |                                  |                                |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu               | 116                     |                                  | 1                              |
| 26       | Telangana                | 163                     | 21                               |                                |
| 27       | Tripura                  | 1                       |                                  |                                |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh            | 115                     | 15                               | 1                              |
| 29       | Uttarakhand              | 16                      | 9                                | 1                              |
| 30       | West Bengal              | 29                      | 1                                |                                |
|          | TOTAL                    | 5264                    | 437                              | 36                             |

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