| czar |
Posted
on 29-Mar-04 10:58 PM
Agreement likely on Upper Karnali hydel
Nepal and India are set to sign an agreement on Upper Karnali hydroelectric power project within a week or two, Spacetime Dainik Monday said.
Quoting sources at Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the report said the Indian side has sent a positive response on the proposal with some comments. Earlier, the NEA and the National Hydropower Power Corporation (NHPC) had agreed to begin procedures for the project.
According to the report, NN Burma, chief engineer of NHPC has informed that the Indian side has been assessing the pros and cons of the project along with the cost factors.
“Both the sides are busy finalizing the draft,” Burma said. The 300-megawatt project, which is first joint venture project in the country, is expected to cost US$500 million. nepalnews.com March 29 04
Of the few cards Nepal holds in terms of dealing with India, hydro-power maybe about the only one where the nation holds a somewhat decent hand. To give away such a precious asset, whilst embroiled in an increasingly nasty civil war, seems ill advised at the very least. Forget the BMW and Jaguar, this drives a handful of nails into Nepal’s coffin in one blow.
Demographic projections estimate India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country in the next 45 years. India needs energy to develop and sustain her economy now and more so in future. There are those that will argue that the investment cost and time to market do not favour hydro-power, that large dams are an anachronism. Yet the economics of that can change as oil reserves are depleted leading to rising costs in the years to come. Fuel cells, clean nuclear power are other possibilities. (Oh yea, lets not forget cold fusion that perennial dream of physicists). Yet hydropower could still be an important component in any South Asian equation in the next 20 years or so.
Water will be a critical resource as this century progresses. Fresh drinking water will be the vital issue challenging the survival of societies everywhere. Changing global weather patterns are shrinking glaciers in the Himalayas, as is starting to occur in the Andes watershed in Peru, Colombia and the Pyrenees in France and Switzerland. If the Himalayas are by then denuded of snow entirely, there would scarcely be any habitable areas left in Nepal, so the argument would be moot. So lets play a What If: diminished perhaps, but Nepal 30 years hence still has a water surplus. This would be an important bargaining chip.
Meanwhile, Maoist rebellion notwithstanding, when the dust finally settles, the task of rebuilding will have to be faced. Regardless of how long it took, perhaps a generation hence, future leaders will need resources to underpin their success. Yet one thoughtless stroke of the pen now dramatically weakens their chances.
Karnali is a resource that could have served both present and future generations. As India gains further wealth and power, its inherent tendency to bully the local neighbors will be further strengthened. With none but our own wits to ease the southern giant’s unceasing stranglehold, water and power are potent components of our nation’s armour. We may have just lost an important part of it. For the proverbial 30 pieces of silver.
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