Opposing the Dam Safety Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra on Friday argued that the Bill aims at riding roughshod over States and taking away their power to manage Dam Safety.
Taking part in the discussion on the Bill, the Trinamool Congress lawmaker said that water being a State subject, states should have a say in management of safety of dams located in their respective territories.
She said the Bill was silent on flow of funds from the Centre to States to maintain dam safety. Objecting to provisions in the Bill, she said that it was proposed that 21 members of Dam Safety Committee would be nominated by Central Government and even those from the States would be chosen by the Centre.
The Committee proposed to have 10 members from the Centre and only seven from the state, the Trinamool Congress lawmaker said. ” Please do not bring legislation which impinges on the rights of States,” she said. She demanded that the Bill should be withdrawn.
DMK member A Raja also opposed the Bill, saying that land and water were State subjects. ”How this House can bring a law,” he questioned.Congress floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suggested that pre and post-monsoon checks of all dams should be conducted. RSP member N K Premachandran said the Bill is too focused on structural safety and not on operational safety.
