A new round of Centre-state acrimony over the dam safety bill

Parliament recently passed the Dam Safety Bill 2019, after much resistance from the opposition parties. Though the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in August 2019, it was approved only earlier this month in the Rajya Sabha during the just-ended winter session.

With this, India, for the first time, has a law for the safety of its dams.

Despite having the third-highest number of large dams in the world — after the United States and China — India did not have an exclusive law for their safety. Though the central government first initiated the process to make such a law way back in 1986, it faced several hurdles. The bill was first introduced in Parliament in 2010 and sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee. The bill was modified and placed in the House, but it lapsed due to the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. A fresh bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2019.

India has 5,745 large dams in the country, of which about 80% are over 25 years old. Some 227 dams that are over 100 years old are still functional.

Though India's track record in dam safety is good, there have been instances of failure as well. According to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, some 40 dams have collapsed since Independence. In 1979, the collapse of the Machchhu dam in Gujarat caused the death of thousands of people. The recent case of breach of the Annamayya dam (Andhra Pradesh) in November 2021 left some 20 people dead.

The bill provides for surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all the large dams in the country so as to prevent disasters related to dam failure. It has a provision for an institutional mechanism at both central and state levels to ensure the safe functioning of dams.

A National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) will be constituted at the central level which will be headed by the Chairman, Central Water Commission, and will have representatives from both the central and state governments. A National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) will be set up to ensure the nationwide implementation of dam safety policies and standards evolved by the NCDS.

At the state level, it provides for State Dam Safety Organisations (SDSOs), whose functions include conducting perpetual surveillance, inspections and monitoring of dams. A State Committee on Dam Safety will supervise state dam rehabilitation programmes as well as review the work of the SDSOs.

The bill applies to all dams constructed before or after the commencement of this Act that are more than 15 metres high, or between 10 metres to 15 metres. They should also satisfy any of the particular design conditions. The conditions are: 1) The length of the crest should not be less than 500 metres; 2) The capacity of the reservoir formed by the dam should not be less than one million cubic metres; 3) The maximum flood discharge dealt with by the dam should not be less than 2,000 cubic metres per second; 4) The dam should have difficult foundation problems; 5) The dam must be of unusual design.

The bill also has a clause for punishment in case of violations. Anybody found obstructing any officer of the central or the state government, or a person authorised by the National Committee or the Authority or the State Committee in the discharge of their functions under this Act, or refuses to comply with any direction given by them, will face maximum two years in jail and a fine, or both.

However, the opposition parties, including Congress, the TMC and the DMK, demanded that the bill be sent to a parliamentary select committee for further scrutiny. They argued that since water comes under the State List, it is an unconstitutional decision by the Centre to take control of the dams in the states.

In Tamil Nadu, all political parties and the state government are opposed to the bill. According to them, the bill violates the rights of the state, especially in connection with the reservoirs constructed by it in neighbouring states. The southern state's main concerns are that once the Act comes into force, the state will lose its control on dams and ownership of assets.

DMK leader Tiruchi Siva says the bill encroaches upon the states' rights as the states have the power to make laws with regard to water supply, drainage or embankment.

Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress, a Rajya Sabha MP, says, "the current bill does not guarantee any power to the states. It seeks to snatch the powers of the states."

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat counters the allegation by saying that the bill will ensure a proper dam safety institutional framework on many issues including pre- and post-monsoon inspections, and address shortcomings in design, construction, operation and maintenance of dams.

Jal Shakti ministry officials said the Constitution allows Parliament to make laws on subjects in the State List if two or more states pass resolutions requiring such a law. Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal had passed resolutions in 2007 demanding a dam safety legislation, regulated by an Act of Parliament.

The officials said the Centre will not take control of any dam. The national-level bodies like NCDS and NDSA will focus only on safety issues of dams owned by one state but situated in another state. The safety of dams inside an individual state will be addressed by the State Committee on Dam Safety (SCDS).

Though 92% of the major dams are on inter-state rivers, most of them are built, owned and operated by the respective state governments. Whether the new law will lead to better maintenance of dams or open the flood gates of legal disputes remains to be seen.

DHNS