National Dam Safety Authority

Published on 10 Sep 2025

• The Supreme Court directed a supervisory committee led by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) chief to address Tamil Nadu’s concerns over Mullaperiyar Dam.

• NDSA is a statutory body that regulates, inspects, and oversees dams and was established by the Central Government under the National Dam Safety Act, 2021.

• The Act applies to all dams with height more than 15 metres, or height between 10 metres and 15 metres with certain design and structural conditions.

• NDSA, headquartered in New Delhi, is led by a chairman with five wings: policy & research, technical, regulation, disaster & resilience, and administration & finance.

• NDSA has the key function 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.

According to the National Register of Large Dams, there are 5,264 completed large dams in the country, while 437 were under construction.

Keywords:

National Dam Safety Authority NDSA Dam Dam safety Mullaperiyar Dam National Dam Safety Act National Register of Large Dams Water conservation Electricity Infrastructure hydropower inter-state disputes