Himachal Pradesh state government will review the Dam Safety Act, afresh and improve it in view of the recent disaster caused due to rain fury. The Chief Minister stated this while responding to the question of MLA Vipin Singh Parmar during the Question Hour in the State Assembly on Saturday.

The Chief Minister said that the current Dam Safety Act currently has a safety plan for the catchment area, but there is no such plan for the area beyond the dam.

Advertisement

He said that this time after the release of water from Pong Dam by BBMB, the state had to face heavy flood like situation in Fatehpur and Indora assembly segments.

The Chief Minister said that there is no provision in the existing dam safety to avoid this and in view of this, the government has decided to review the Dam Safety Act.

He said that the government has given notices to 21 dam managements for non-compliance of the Dam Safety Act.

Earlier, in response to the original question, Vipin Singh Parmar said that at present electricity is being produced in 173 hydro power projects in the state.

Of these projects, only 23 projects come under the purview of the Dam Safety Act.

The Chief Minister said that as per the provisions of the Golden Jubilee Energy Policy 2021 notified by the state government, safety inspection of all hydro power projects is done regularly before starting the operation of the project and in the 10th, 20th, 30th, 35th and 40th year of operation.

He said that the state government is currently getting royalty of Rs 1800 crore every year from hydro power projects located in the state.

The state has a power capacity of 25 thousand MW, out of which 11 thousand MW has been harnessed, he informed.

In response to another question by MLA Sanjay Ratan, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that an amount of Rs 6.93 crore was spent on the Amrit Mahotsav organized during the tenure of the former BJP government.

This Amrit Mahotsav was celebrated on the occasion of completion of 75 years of independence under the scheme of the Central Government.

He said that the former BJP government made it a political programme, instead the freedom fighters who participated in the freedom movement and their families should have been invited.

Sukhu said that whenever his government organizes such a programme, the freedom fighters and their families will be honoured.

Speaking on this issue, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur asked the government whether the state government can refuse to organize any such program of the Central Government.

He said that the Congress government has stopped the honorarium being given to Loktantra Prahari, which the government should immediately restore.