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To what extent has the Indian government looked into other possible sources of energy -- such as solar, or even nuclear, power? Do you consider these (or any others) to be viable options?
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Medha Patkar
Founder of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a movement that opposes the construction of mega-dams on the Narmada River.
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S.K. Mohapatra
Managing Director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd, the state corporation charged with building the Sardar Sarovar dam.
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Yes, there are viable options in terms of energy. Hydropower has proved not to be cheap and clean. The other options can be solar, wind, micro hydel, and vast human power by using labor-intensive technology in a country like India.
The decision on Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) was not done after any scientific scrutiny of the options. Only after the NBA erected the first micro hydel project did the Maharashtra government take to this.
However, we do not feel nuclear energy is a better option as it has its own environmental, economic, and social costs and political repercussions in a war-mongering world. The viability depends on criteria since the economics apart, the social and environmental impacts, if considered, certainly reject large dams as unviable in terms of mitigating these impacts and compensating for them. More research and development in the non-conventional energy sector -- on micro and macro levels -- should be our next goal.
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Hydropower meets only about 27 percent of the country's total power needs. The country has to look to all other sources of energy generation including solar and nuclear power. The viability of these options change from location to location and also over a period of time, but cannot be sufficient to meet the total power needs.
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The views expressed in this debate are solely those of the participants.
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