Mini hydro projects need of the hour
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 02, 2021 -

THOUGH inauguration of 33/11 kv sub-stations of Wangoi and Yairipok on Sunday would help bring qualitative change in the power supply mechanism to consumers covered by the two sub-stations, the overall static power generational capacity of the state compared to the increasing usage and demand for electricity implies that the government must explore other means as well to ensure regular supply of power across the state.

As power minister Th Biswajit himself remarked during the inauguration event that electricity is the most important requirement for a country or a region to achieve its goal for advancement in the industrial sector, people of Manipur would be hoping to enjoy uninterrupted power supply, for which it is important that the state has more power generation facilities instead of the present status of relying on supply from power grids in other states.

Notably, the minister's assertion that one of the biggest achievements of the present government is the state's capacity of around 1000 kv power supply signifies huge dependence of Manipur on others as the power generation capacity of the Loktak multipurpose project, the state's lone source of generating electricity, is far less than the requirement, consequently forcing the government to purchase electricity from national grids connected through the Silchar-Imphal transmission line. As increase in the demand for electricity is a global phenomenon, it would be fraught with great risk if the state continues to rely on power supply from its present sources.

Thus, it is advisable that the government waste no time in launching own power generation projects along with effective tapping of environment friendly sources of power supply such as solar and wind energy.

For nearly a decade, people of Manipur have been able to enjoy vastly improved power supply situation after the then Congress government introduced the pre-paid meter system.

It is obvious that had the pre-paid meter system not been initiated in early 2012, significant improvement being experienced in the power supply situation at the juncture wouldn't have been possible.

Subsequent to division of the electricity department in 2014 into two corporations for improving power supply and streamlining the tax collection system, the overall power supply situation has improved to such an extent that states in the north-east region and beyond have started to adopt the Manipur model of installing pre-paid meter system.

The pre-paid meter system also turned out to be most helpful to the government in checking power theft, and in solving the earlier problem of pending power bills andfrequent load-shedding that literally pushed the entire state to the primitive era.

To ensure continuity of the improved power supply situation, the government needs to give emphasis on generation of electricity from smaller hydropower projects as construction of larger ones would naturally involve huge capital cost and are associated with various techno-economic and social issues.

With the multi-crore projects such as Khuga Dam yet to generate electricity and the 750 kilowatt power generating unit of Singda Dam at Kangchup lying rusted coupled with the vehement protest against implementation of the Tipaimukh Dam, the government should focus on implementing mini hydro projects for which the state has enormous potential instead of provoking communities who are vehemently against mega power projects in their respective areas.