Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep in abeyance the Centre’s decision to legislate on dam safety till all the States are consulted and a consensus is evolved.

“I consider it appropriate that consensus of all the States be obtained before bringing forward such a legislation on dam safety,” Palaniswami, who is known as EPS, said in a letter to Modi after the Union Cabinet approved the draft Dam Safety Bill, 2018, on June 13. When the draft Dam Safety Bill, 2016, was circulated by the Centre, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had conveyed the State’s objections to certain clauses since they infringed on powers of the State governments and also rights conferred on the State by virtue of Inter-State agreements on the dams owned, operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu government but located in other States.

The Centre has not circulated a revised draft after 2016 and it is presumed that the Bill in its original form was approved by the Cabinet on June 13, 2018. This Bill would have wide ramifications on the dams operated and maintained by State Government, especially those owned, operated and maintained by the State government but located in a neighbouring State, the letter said.

“A legislation on dam safety should be re-examined and it should not be proceeded with, in haste, without considering the objections raised by Tamil Nadu threadbare,” the letter said.

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