Parliament Question: National Committee on Dam Safety

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2253 ANSWERED ON 12.02.2026 NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON DAM SAFETY 2253. SHRI CHAVAN RAVINDRA VASANTRAO: SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA: SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE: Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state: (a) whether the eleventh meeting of the National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) was held recently in New Delhi and if so, the details thereof; (b) the key agenda discussed, major decisions taken and recommendations made in the said meeting; (c) the details of experts from various States and institutions who participated in the said meeting; (d) whether the Government has any proposal to review the structural health monitoring system, emergency action plans and ageing dams and if so, the details thereof; (e) the steps taken/likely to be taken by the Government to implement the recommendations of the Committee particularly for dams located in seismically vulnerable and flood-prone regions of the country; and (f) whether the Government has made any financial provision to strengthen dam safety mechanisms across the country and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY) (a) Yes. The 11th Meeting of the National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) was convened on 20th January, 2026 in New Delhi. The meeting was attended by the official members of the Committee, with the Heads of State Dam Safety Organisations participating as special invitees. The proceedings were conducted under the chairmanship of the Chairman, Central Water Commission, who also serves as the Chairman of the NCDS. (b) Several policy-related issues critical for the implementation of various provisions of the Dam Safety Act, 2021 were deliberated upon during the NCDS meeting. The agenda items included, inter alia:  Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Comprehensive Dam Safety Evaluation (CDSE) [Sections 38–40] ;  SOP for Pre-Initial Filling Plan [Section 27] ;  Financial remuneration of national and international dam safety experts;  Framework finalisation for Level-2 (SQRA) Risk Assessment studies under Section 35(2) ;  Regulation for defining “Under Construction” dams/barrages and their compliance requirements; 1 Approval mechanism for new dam projects and rehabilitation of existing projects [Section 26], including references from MoEF&CC;  Mechanism for appraisal and approval of various non-structural documents. The committee conducted a thorough review of the agenda items, engaging in detailed discussions to address key challenges and opportunities in implementation. They issued clear, actionable directions to all stakeholders, emphasizing timelines, resource allocation and accountability measures to ensure the timely rollout of critical activities and frameworks. (c) List of participants/experts from various States and institutions who participated in the 11th NCDS meeting is given at Annexure. (d) The responsibility for the safety of dams, including their operation, maintenance, monitoring, safety audit and surveillance, rests primarily with the dam owners. In accordance with the provisions of the Dam Safety Act, 2021, every owner of a specified dam is mandated to conduct annual pre-monsoon and post- monsoon inspections in respect of each specified dam for monitoring the performance of such dam. As per this compliance, dam owning agencies have reported the pre-monsoon & post-monsoon inspections of about 6524 and 6553 dams respectively for the year 2025. Further, in compliance of Section 32 of the Dam Safety Act, 2021, National Dam Safety Authority published in April, 2024, a regulation titled “Inspection, Instrumentation, Seismic Data, Risk Assessment and Evaluation of Specified Dam Regulation, 2024, detailing the Minimum number of sets of instrumentation required at the dam for monitoring the performance of specified dams, and other details such as technical documentation, analysis, calibration, installation procedures etc. The Act also mandated the requirement for preparing the Emergency Action Plan (EAP)/Disaster Management in respect of each specified dam. As of now, EAP for 362 specified dams have been completed by the dam owners. (e) Recommendations of the National Committee are being implemented through well-defined institutional mechanisms, prioritized safety assessments, and dedicated funding programmes, such as the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) Phase-II and Phase-III. Special emphasis is being placed on high-risk dams located in seismic zones and flood-prone regions, where risk classification frameworks and enhanced monitoring protocols are being systematically applied. (f) The Dam Safety Act, 2021 stipulates that “Every owner of the specified dam shall earmark sufficient and specific funds for maintenance and repairs of the dam and for implementing the recommendations of the State Dam Safety Organisation.” Since dams in India are owned, operated, and maintained by State Government Departments/Boards, Central/State Public Sector Undertakings, or private agencies, the funds required for routine operation, maintenance (O&M), and rehabilitation are allocated by the respective agencies through their annual budgets. Further, in order to improve the safety and operational performance of selected existing dams across the country along with institutional strengthening for dam safety, Govt. of India is implementing the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) with external funding. Under the World Bank funded DRIP Phase-I program, 223 dams located in seven States were audited and rehabilitated. After completion of DRIP Phase-I programme in March 2021, Government of India has taken up DRIP Phase-II & III scheme. The Scheme envisages rehabilitation and safety improvement of 736 dams located in 19 States, with a budget outlay of Rs. 10,211 crore. The scheme is of 10 years duration. DRIP Phase-II has become operational from 12th October 2021, and is being co-financed by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank. ***** 2ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2253 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 12.02.2026 REGARDING “NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON DAM SAFETY”. List of participants who attended the 11th NCDS meeting S. No Name Designation Organisation Positionin NCDS (Sh./Smt./Dr./Ms.) 1 Anupam Prasad Chairman CWC Chairman 2 Anil Jain Chairman NDSA Member 3 Reading Shimray Member (D&R) CWC Member 4 M G Gokhale Member (Hydro) CEA Member 5 Pradeep Kumar Joint Secretary (RD &PP) DoWR RD & GR Member Agrawal 7 Yogendra Pal Singh Scientist-'F' MoEF&CC Member 8 Rahul Saxena Scientist G IMD Member 9 Dr. P. K. Gajbhiye Director, EPE, DGCO GSI Member 10 B. Simhadri Rao Scientist-G NRSC Member 11 M. S. Hanumanthappa Scientist ‘D’ CWPRS Member 12 K. G. Mahesh Director Karnataka Member 13 Sukhjeet Singh Bhullar Chief Engineer Vigilance & Punjab QA Member 15 Zodinthari Engineer-in-chief Mizoram Member 16 Niranjan Rout Chief Engineer Odisha Member 17 S. A. TATU Director General Maharashtra Member 18 Soran Singh Engineer-in-Chief (Project) Uttar Pradesh Member 19 S. K. Sibal Ex-Member (D&R) Expert member Member 20 Yogendra Singh Professor IIT Roorkee Member 21 Chandan Singh Under Secretary NDMA Member 22 Pramod Narayan Member (P&R, NDSA) NDSA Member Secretary 23 Manoj Kumar SJC(PR) DoWR RD & GR Special Invitee 24 Jayanta Kumar Das General Manager (Civil) APGCL Special Invitee 25 Mahmood Alam Chief Engineer SDSO Patna Special Invitee 26 Mr. P.K.Pal Project Director Chhattisgarh Special Invitee 27 S.S. Pagar Head & Chief Engineer SDSO Maharashtra Special Invitee 28 B.Wann Head & Additional Chief Engineer SDSO Meghalaya Special Invitee 29 S. Karthikeyan Superintending Engineer SDSO Chennai Special Invitee 30 Shankar Kumar Saha Chairman SDSO, Uttarakhand Special Invitee ***** 3