Letters: Pass draft Bill

With reference to “Dams in troubled waters” (March 7), in 2010, the then Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, Pawan Bansal, had introduced the Dam Safety Bill that sought to provide for surveillance, inspection and operation of all dams of certain parameters to ensure their safe functioning. A National Committee on Dam Safety was envisaged whose functions included (a) monitoring the functioning of state or non-state dam safety organisations (b) evaluating dam safety procedures in various states and suggesting ways to improve safety consistent with international practices and Indian conditions (c) evolving a comprehensive dam safety management approach, and (d) advising on specific matters of dam safety to the Centre or state governments. Further, every state government and owner of specified dams was required to compile all technical documentations concerning hydrology, dam foundation, structural engineering, and watershed upstream of dam. Unfortunately, the Bill lapsed amidst the parliamentary pandemonium and the new legislation never saw the light of day.

The third National Dam Safety Conference, organised by the Central Water Commission recently, recognised the challenges encountered in the ongoing Dam Safety Rehabilitation and Improvement Project's implementation. While the discussion of strategies for effectively managing the uncertainties associated with dam construction, operation and maintenance are welcome, the same need statutory backing for their effective implementation. It is time the government negotiated the floor of the House with the stakeholders concerned and engaged in a meaningful discussion on its draft Bill on dam safety. The country can ill-afford devastation due to dam-related mishaps.

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