The views expressed by one senior central minister (Home)that there is little scope for increasing the nation's hydro-electric power capacity possibly do not match the actual position. There is enormous scope for tapping the potential for hydel power from hundreds of rivers flowing thro' different hilly areas of India as so far only a small part has been tapped. The cost of generation of hydel power is also appreciably less compared to coal based thermal power, though the initial cost of setting up hydel stations may be slightly high. The will be only a nominal impact on the environment at the time of the construction of hydel power stations, as compared to regular operation of coal based or nuclear power plants. It is not clear why the UPA govt is desperately trying to finalise a nuclear power deal at an astronomical cost with a foreign country which does not have a very attractive track record in international relations, instead of tapping the vast hydel power potential making use of the latest technology available in the world. Our experienced engineers and hydel power administrators should come out with the available facts and figures to shift the attention of the govt to augment hydel power capacity.
