STATUS AND SAFETY OF OLD DAMS

• India hosts one of the world's largest dam inventories; ageing infrastructure raises structural risk, downstream hazard, and inter-state coordination concerns.
• Governed by the Dam Safety Act, 2021 with a 4-tier institutional architecture (NCDS, NDSA, SCDS, SDSO).
• Relevant to GS-III (Disaster Management, Infrastructure) and GS-II (Centre-State, Statutory Bodies).