New Delhi: Lok Sabha passed the Bill for Safety of Dams 10 metres or above the Dam Safety Bill, 2019. The Bill seeks to develop institutional mechanisms for safety, inspection, operation and maintenance of dams in the country. The provisions proposed in the Bill will apply to all designated dams in the country which have a height of more than 15 metres or between 10-15 metres.

Introducing the bill, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat assured that the Centre has no mind to control the power of the states through the bill. The state government has already conveyed the bill better than it brought in 2010. He said the Centre has started emergency projects for 180 dams. He said, the bill envisages a two-tier structure at the national and state level to protect dams in the country.

The dams directly affect the lives, property, flora and fauna of the surrounding people, so their safety is very essential, he said. There are a total of 5745 dams in the country, of which 293 hundred are more than 100 years old. 25 per cent are 50 to 100 years old and 80 per cent are 25 years old. Since Independence, 40 dams have fallen in the country. In 1979, thousands of people died alone in an accident in Gujarat.

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