India has 1,065 large dams that are between 50 and 100 years old while 224 are over a century old, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry said on Monday. There are a total of 6,138 constructed and 143 under-construction dams in the country.

 Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said the government enacted the Dam Safety Act, 2021 to address the challenges posed by ageing dams and to prevent disasters arising from dam failures.

He said dams, apart from serving irrigation and power generation purposes, play a significant role in mitigating floods.

 According to the National Register of Large Dams (NRLD-2023 edition), compiled jointly by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) and CWC, there are 6,138 constructed and 143 under construction dams which aggregate to a total of 6,281 large dams.

 Of these numbers, only 224 dams are more than 100 years old and there are 1065 large dams which are 50 to 100 years old.

 Choudhary said the government enacted the Dam Safety Act and is also implementing the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) Phase II and III, aimed at rehabilitating 736 dams across 19 states and three central agencies.

After China and America, India ranks third in the world in terms of the number of dams. In August, the Government had told Parliament that at least 47 dams—38 commissioned and 9 under construction—have been identified by the Central Electricity Authority as potentially affected by Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) from glacial lakes in India. GLOF studies have been completed for 31 of these projects, the Government said. A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake.