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.
