Union Cabinet of India Approved Draft Bill for Dam Safety

On 13 May2010 the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved draft bill on dam safety. Now the bill will be produced before the Parliament for final approval. The bill has proposed duties and functions for central government, state governments and owners of specified dams to carry out safety and monitoring of the dam. They will be responsible for the surveillance, inspections, operation and maintenance of the dam. The bill also has focused on issues of disaster management and any emergency related to the dam safety.

The bill also approved changes in the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP). It increased the present cost from 1.5 lakh rupees per hectare to 2 lakh rupees per hectare for surface minor irrigation schemes. However, the financial assistance would be limited to the cost norm of Rs. 1.5 lakh hectare only.

Besides, under the changed AIBP programme one project in Karnataka and two projects in Punjab will receive funds of equal amount to the projects providing irrigation to the drought prone areas, which covers 90 percent of the cost of work.

The cabinet committee approved the bill after state assemblies of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal had adopted a resolution in 2007 demanding dam safety act for the safety and maintenance of dams in their states. Under article 252 of the Indian Constitution, water is a state subject. However, national Parliament can legislate on specific subjects when two or more states give consent for legislation.