We generate electricity by destroying
our rivers and forests only to pump out the remaining groundwater
THE WORLD’S biggest grid
failure has put the green ministry in the dock yet again. India’s power
shortage is between 10-13 percent and power projects are apparently held up due
to delay in environment clearances (EC). So to many, the Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MoEF) is the villain in our growth story, by
disallowing coal extraction in forest areas and optimum harnessing of rivers.
The MoEF has
indeed decided to have a relook at the new projects and also examine the
legality of cutting down the capacity of operational hydroelectric plants on
the Ganga. Elsewhere, not a single power project is held up in green tape.
NHPC Dibang
needs diversion of 5,056 hectares of forestland but is facing stiff opposition
from locals. Jaypee Lower Siang received terms of reference in 2007 but is
stalled due to public resistance. The Cheemei gasbased thermal power plant by
the Kerala State Industrial Corporation was considered for EC but the promoters
are yet to work out the blend of natural gas and refrigerated liquefied gas,
which they propose to use for the plant.
NHPC Middle
Subanshri and NPCIL Mithvirdi Gujarat have not even submitted EC applications.
Saurashtra coal-based project is yet to apply for forest clearance (FC). NTPC
Bijapur Karnataka was granted EC this January. Essar Madhya Pradesh and
Reliance Power Chitrangi Madhya Pradesh received ECs in 2010. The Essar plant
is already operational, although final FC for both projects is pending.
The 11th
Five-Year Plan projected a target of 50,000 MW of additional thermal power
capacity while the 12th Plan aims at another 1,00,000 MW. During 2007-11, the
MoEF has granted EC to 2,10,000 MW of power, which is 60,000 MW in excess of
the combined target of 1,50,000 MW by 2017. Yet, imaginary green roadblocks are
blamed for tripping up growth.
It is common
knowledge that India loses up to 40 percent of power in transmission. But while
investing heavily in new power projects, the government or the private sector
refuses to plug the holes. India’s power transmission and distribution segment,
says a report, is facing an investment shortfall of Rs 3.68 lakh crore. If this
convenient blind spot in our policy is not shocking enough, sample this double
whammy.
The recent
grid failure was triggered by Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh overdrawing
electricity to feed the agricultural demand. Overdrawing is common and frequent
during the June-July sowing season of water-intensive crops such as paddy. The
pre-monsoon data showed that the storage level at the reservoirs was low — only
16 percent at Bhakra — due to irrationally heavy withdrawal earlier in the
year. Then a delayed and deficient monsoon tipped the scales.
Thanks to
power subsidy, groundwater usage in north India is the highest in the world.
During 2002-08, groundwater depletion in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi
was equivalent to a net loss of 109 cu km of water — double the capacity of
India’s largest surface water reservoir. To run a million water pumps to flood
their agricultural fields, these states also demand the biggest chunk of power.
To meet that demand, growth pundits want every river dammed and the last
forests mined for coal.
So the
fragile Brahmaputra landscape is being torn apart in Arunachal Pradesh where at
least 135 large hydel power projects are billed to produce 57,000 MW. On the
Ganga, 17 plants are operating with 14 under construction and 39 proposed.
According to the latest Greenpeace report, coal mining threatens over 1.1
million hectares of prime forest in 13 coalfields in central India.
Business as
usual will lead us to a suicidal scenario in a not-so-distant future when we
will have destroyed all our forests and rivers only to suck out the last few
drops of groundwater. It takes no great insight to grasp the urgency of a
policy shift towards promoting less water-intensive crops and investing in
renewable energy. If only we could begin by fixing the leaky distribution
network.
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