Lok Sabha Question No. 5446 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-25
Subject: Safety of Dams
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Sudheer Gupta, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5446

ANSWERED ON 25

## .0 7.2019

## SAFETY OF DAMS

5446.

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMABHAJIRAO MANE

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIV RAO MANDLIK

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of operational and under construction dams in the country, Statewise;
- (b) whether the Government has decided to develop uniform procedures for ensuring the safety of existing and new dams;
- (c) if so, the details and the salient features thereof;
- (d) whether the Government plans to give statutory powers to the Central Water 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;
- (e) whether constitution of a National Committee on the dam safety is also proposed thereunder and if so, the details thereof along with the duties to be assigned to it; and
- (f) whether certain States have raised objections on the issue and if so, the de tails thereof an  the action taken thereon?

## ANSWER

## 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 wi se details of completed large dams and under construction large dams are at Annexure - I .

Comment [H1]: Government

Comment [H2]: proposed

(b) to (e) Government hasdecidedto develop uniform procedures for ensuring the safety of existing and new dams through proposed Dam Safety Bill, 2019.

Comment [H3]: May be deleted.

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 (acco untability) of dam safety on the dam owner/ concerned organisations and provides for penal provisions  for  commission  &  omission  of  certain  acts  against  offenders.  The B ill  provides  that  every owner of specified dams shall earmark sufficient and specific fu nds 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 Auth ority' (NDSA) as a regulatory body to implement the policy, guidelines and standards for dam safety in the country.

Contd…P/2

The  Bill  also  provides  for  constitution  of  'State  Committee  on  Dam  Safety'  by  the  State Governments to ensure proper surve illance, 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  t o 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 r ecurrence 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  mean s  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 reques t 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  specif ic  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 Ta mi  N du r ised 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 d ams and reservoirs which are owned, operated and maintained by a State, but located in another State.

Comment [H4]: May be deleted Comment [H5]: May be deleted.

The  proposed  Bill  was  discussed  threadbare  along  with  the  inputs  received  from  various States/UTs  in  the  meeting  of  37 th meeting  of  NCDS  held  on  18.02.20 17.  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.

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 Constructi on   |
|----------|--------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 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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