The National Dam Safety Authority, tasked with the responsibility of maintaining dam safety standards, preventing dam-related tragedies, and resolving inter-State disputes in this area, took effect on Friday. The Dam Safety Act, which was passed by Parliament on December 8, provides for the establishment of a National Dam Safety Authority to work with State-level dam safety organizations and dam owners to standardize dam safety data and practices.
Centre issues Gazette Notification about National Dam Safety
“The Central Government hereby establishes an Authority to be known as the National Dam Safety Authority to discharge the National Authority’s powers and functions under the said Act, and hereby fixes the effective date of the said Authority as 18th February 2022,” the Jal Shakti Ministry said in a gazette notification on Thursday.
The Authority will be led by a chairman and aided by five members who will oversee the Authority’s five wings – policy and research, technical, regulatory, catastrophe and resilience, and administration and finance. The Authority’s headquarters will be in the national capital region, with support provided by four regional offices. Additionally, the Centre established a 22-member National Committee on Dam Safety, which would be chaired by the Central Water Commission’s Chairman.
The Authority’s primary duty is to arbitrate disputes between states’ State Dam Safety Organizations or between a state’s State Dam Safety Organization and any owner of a specific dam in that state, as defined in the notification.
Dam safety and dam operation have frequently been flashpoints for conflict between States. The ongoing disagreement between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the Mullaperiyar dam is a case in point. According to the National Register of Major Dams, the country now has 5,264 completed large dams and 437 under construction. The Dam Safety Act establishes a framework for dam safety in the country.