New Delhi: The Upper House of Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill that gives a greater control and authority to the Central government over specified dams in the country for their monitoring, maintenance and safety. The Dam Safety Bill 2021 seeks to establish four statutory bodies, two each at the central and state level for inspection, monitoring and ensuring the safety of specified dams in the country with the powers to impose penalties.
The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha more than two years ago in August 2019 but since then the government could not get it passed in the Rajya Sabha where the NDA does not have a clear majority on its own and relies on other parties.
Once the new law is notified, there will be a National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) and a National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) at the central level, and State Committees on Dam Safety (SCDS) and State Dam Safety Organisations (SDSO) at the state level.
It was one of the long pending reforms pushed by both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha respectively.
After the breach of Tiware dam in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra on July 2 2019, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared the Dam Safety Bill 2019 which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in the same month. The lower house passed the Bill on August 2, 2019 but since then it could not be taken up in the Rajya Sabha for more than two years.
As per the latest official data, the country has 5,700 large dams in the country. Of the total large dams, 293 dams are more than 100 years old and 1,041 dams are 50-100 years old.
In addition to these dams, there are thousands of other small and medium dams in the country.
In the absence of a proper legal framework, safety and maintenance of these dams were a cause of concern. The Dam Safety Bill provides for proper monitoring inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in the country.
Why the Union brought a central Dam Safety Bill
In the clause 2 of the chapter one of the Bill, the Union government said it was expedient for it to take control of regulation of dam safety in the country.
The clause says: “It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that the Union should take under its control the regulation of uniform dam safety procedure for specified dam to the extent hereinafter provided.”
According to the Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, India is home to third highest number of dams in the world after China and the USA and more than 25% of the dams are 50 years or older.
Shekhawat told the Rajya Sabha that more than 90% dams in the country have been built on the inter-state rivers.
The Minister said the country has suffered some 42 major dam failure incidents since 1979 when the failure of Machchhu Morbi dam in August 1979 killed several thousand people in Morbi town in Gujarat.
Shekhawat also cited the example of the devastation caused by the breach of Annamayya project's earthen bund on Cheyyeru River in Andhra Pradesh last month that proved catastrophic for the villagers of nearby area and killed dozens of people.
The Union government decided to take control the issue of the dam safety in the country as there are some dams located in one state but they are owned by some other state government or by some other entity with no fixed accountability for maintenance and safety.
Opposition to the Dam Safety Bill
The Bill was opposed by some political parties as the issue of water and water related matters are in the second list in the seventh schedule where legislative competence lies with the state legislatures.
The DMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, opposed the Bill on the ground that it violated the rights of the states.
In the Rajya Sabha, DMK leader Tiruchi Siva moved an amendment that the Bill be sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee. However, his amendment was defeated in the division of the votes by 26 votes in its favour and 80 votes against it.
Whether the Centre has legislative competence?
The Centre brought the Bill under Article 246 of the Constitution which is part of Part XI, Chapter 1 that deals with the distribution of legislative business between the Union and States.
Article 246 deals with the three lists mentioned in the seventh schedule of the Constitution, known as the Union list (List 1), State List (List 2) and Concurrent List (List 3).
While the Union has the exclusive power to make laws on the subjects mentioned in the List 1, States have the exclusive powers to make laws on the subjects mentioned in the List 2 and both the Union and States can make laws on the subjects mentioned in the List 3, the Concurrent List.
As per the entry number 17 in the State List (List 2), States have powers to legislate on the issues related to water, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water (hydro) power but this legislative competence is not exclusive to them as these powers are subject to the provisions of entry number 56 in the Union List (List 1).
The entry number 56 in the Union list says the Union has legislative competence for the regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys. However, it adds one condition that in order to exercise this power the Parliament must pass a law to declare that it was in the public interest for the Union to take the issue under its control.
This is why the clause 2 of the Chapter 1 of the Dam Safety Bill declares the expediency of the Union control in the public interest.
History of Dam Safety Bill
The idea of a nationwide dam safety bill was first proposed in the 1980s in the wake of failure of Machchhu dam in August 1979 in Morbi town of Gujarat that killed thousands of people. A committee was formed in 1982 that submitted its report in 1986 and in 2002 a draft bill was circulated to States.
During UPA-1, Manmohan Singh government invoked Article 252 that empowers the Parliament to make laws on the State subjects provided if two or more States pass a resolution authorizing Parliament in this regard.
In 2007, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal passed resolutions empowering Parliament to pass a dam safety bill.
In August 2010, dam safety bill was introduced in Parliament. The Bill was sent to a standing committee which gave its report in 2011. However, the Bill could not be passed during the second tenure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in May 2014.
When the Modi government came in Power in May 2014 it faced a new problem in pushing the Dam Safety Bill as the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act of 2014 bifurcated the state in two - Andhra Pradesh and newly carved out state of Telangana.
After the bifurcation, neither Telangana nor Andhra Pradesh assembly endorsed the resolution passed by erstwhile Andhra Pradesh assembly in 2007.
The Modi government then decided to ditch the Article 252 route taken by the Manmohan Singh government and instead of asking some NDA ruled state to pass such a resolution, it sought the opinion of Solicitor General of India that advised the Bill be moved under Article 246.
Entry number 56 in the Union List (List 1) of the seventh schedule, which Clause 1 of Article 246 refers to, authorizes the Parliament to make laws for regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys if it is expedient for the Union to take control in the public interest by making a declaration to this effect by passing a law in the Parliament.
As per the provisions of entry number 56 in the seventh schedule, the Modi government drafted a fresh dam safety law in May 2017. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2018 but it could not be passed and lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2019.
On July 29 in 2019, the government introduced the Dam Safety Bill 2019 in the Lok Sabha which passed on August 2, 2019 and the Rajya Sabha passed in on December 2, 2021.
Also Read: Opposition parties urge Centre to send Dam Safety Bill to select committee for scrutiny
