National Dam Safety Authority

National Dam Safety Authority

Part of: Prelims and GS-III Disaster Management 

Context: The National Dam Safety Authority came into force recently.

• It seeks to maintain standards related to dam safety, prevent dam-related disasters and resolve inter-State issues in this regard, from Friday.

Key takeaways 

• The Dam Safety Act, passed by Parliament on December 8 last year, states that a National Dam Safety Authority will cooperate with State-level dam safety organisations and owners of dams for standardising safety-related data and practices.
• The Authority will be headed by a chairman and assisted by five members to lead its five wings:
  • policy and research
  • technical
  • regulation
  • disaster
  • resilience and administration and finance.
• The Authority will have its headquarters in Delhi and will be supported by four regional offices.
• The Centre also constituted a 22-member National Committee on Dam Safety which will be headed by the Chairman of the Central Water Commission.
• A key function of the Authority is to resolve any issue between the State Dam Safety Organisations of States or between a State Dam Safety Organisation and any owner of a specified dam in that state, as per the notification.

News Source: TH