Dam safety Bill moots penalties, regulator

The draft Dam Safety Bill-2010, which is likely to come before Parliament in the budget session, may pave the way for strong penalties for dam safety bodies not doing their job well and fix compensation for victims of dam-related mishaps.

These are some of the recommendations made by the parliamentary standing committee to energise what it called a toothless Bill coming after a wait of three decades. The Bill is also likely to provide for an independent agency to oversee all issues related to state and central controlled dams besides fixing roles and penalties for dam safety authorities at state level.

 

Sources in the Water Resources Ministry said that the suggestions to strengthen the Bill were under consideration and a reworked Bill would take sometime and would be ready only for the next session of Parliament.

If the suggestions of the committee are accepted, it would also provide for state level dam safety agencies looking after 20 dams each with fixed roles to monitor and review periodically the safety of dams. These were the main recommendations made by the standing committee on water resources a month ago.

The Bill, which took three decades in the making, assumes importance and urgency in view of the conflict of interests between two states over the issue of the safety of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.

The Tamil Nadu Government feels that the old dam should continue to be operated to serve the drinking, irrigation and power needs of the state, while Kerala where the dam is located feels that it should be shut down in the interests f the safety of the people.

So far neither states have been able to come to an agreement, and the Centre has failed to make them come to an understanding. The matter is with the Supreme Court in the absence of an independent arbitrator. However Tamil nadu has opposed the Dam Safety Bill as being against the interests of the state, while Kerala has welcomed it.

The Bill in its present shape does not provide an independent authority above both Centre and States, nor does it provide for penalties and compensation, thus leaving the safety of dams in a region of ambiguity and unaccountability.

The Bill which provides for setting up of a National Committee on Dam Safety with the Chairman, Central Water Commission as the Chairperson and at least 11 other specified member was introduced in Lok Sabha last year in June and was referred to the Standing Committee on Water Resources in September 2010.

Our suggestions are being incorporated, a member of the committee confirmed to this paper.

There are 5,101 large dams owned by the Governments, Public Sector Undertakings and private entities.

The Bill was drafted following a recommendation by a Government committee on dam safety in 1982. But the Bill first drafted in 2002 has not become law yet. The bill was modified in 1987. It was first introduced in 2002 and then revised and recirculated in States and returned to Parliament in 2010.

The standing committee of water resources had trashed the Bill as toothless said that in spite of ''making a beginning in creating a central body that would finally have a final say in matters of dam safety, it does not make dam owners or anyone accountable for any breaches or damage caused by the dam. Nor does it provide for compensation for the victims of any mishaps caused by the dam.''

The committee also noted the huge delay incurred in having a Bill before parliament on such a serious issue .

The Committee feel that the Bill will not prove as effective without penal provisions for grave omissions. It further says that the Bill has no mention regarding constitution of an independent regulatory authority to keep an overview the implementation of the Dam safety measures as contemplated. The Bill can be enforced only in states which pass an enabling legislation. West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have already passed such laws.