NEW DELHI: The Centre has formed a committee to draft new regulations under the Dam Safety Act, 2021, to enhance surveillance and security of dams. The move is a response to the growing external and internal threats to dams and reservoirs, particularly following the India-Pakistan conflict and the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), officials said.
In the absence of any regulation and standard operating procedures, the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalisation (CTCR) division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Home Secretary, and the IB Director review the safety of dams with states and the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA). In an internal communication, the government highlighted recent incidents, including attacks on dams during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the discovery of a bomb beneath the Big Creek Dam reservoir in the US in May 2026. In October 2025, Russia’s Grafovka dam and Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam were attacked in June 2023 amid the war.
“The proposed regulations will create a specialised agency that includes trained personnel from the Army, Air Force, Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, engineers, and staff from the Central Water Commission(CWC), along with maritime personnel for coastal areas. These regulations will also establish SOP to be followed in emergencies,” said an official aware of the matter. The Dam Safety Act, 2021, governs the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance of dams, but it does not set any minimum standards for the physical or cyber security of specified dams.
The communication underlined identified internal threats, including insider sabotage, unauthorised access, tampering with instrumentation and data, risks related to spying, and human error, officials said. External threats consist of terrorist attacks, sabotage, drone-based surveillance or attacks, unauthorised entry, and civil unrest. Cyber threats include unauthorised access to industrial control systems, manipulation of reservoir gate operations, denial-of-service attacks, GPS spoofing, and data theft.
The need to develop the regulations was prompted by a meeting of 80 Secretaries, convened by by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 30.
