Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
3. Critically analyse the role that the Dam Safety Act, 2021, will play in addressing the issues concerning the safety of major dams all over the country. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question: The Central Water Commission (CWC)’s proposal to let the Mullaperiyar dam’s Supervisory Committee continue for a year essentially means status quo continues. The proposal makes the Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala accountable and provides for the participation of technical experts as panel members.
Key Demand of the question: To write about the potential of Dam Safety Act, 2021 in improving Dam Safety and issues regarding the act.
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by writing the aims and objectives of the Dam Safety Act, 2021.
Body:
First, mention the various features of the Damn safety act – National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS), National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), State Dam Safety Organization (SDSO) and State Dam Safety Committee (SDSC) etc.
Next, write about the ways in which the above will improve safety of the dams.
Next, write about the various issues in the act which have acted as hindrance with regards to dam safety.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
