Comments on: Obstacles for Business in Nepal: Instability and Maoists http://blog.com.np/2010/01/29/obstacles-for-business-in-nepal-instability-and-maoists/ We blog for peace and democracy in Nepal Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:36:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Krishna Roka Magar http://blog.com.np/2010/01/29/obstacles-for-business-in-nepal-instability-and-maoists/comment-page-1/#comment-46502 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:16:15 +0000 http://blog.com.np/?p=5105#comment-46502 Today, the whole world is going solar. There is a a lot of investment in this sector for good cause. India has just done a wonderful job of approving plan to generate 20GW of solar energy by 2020 and 220GW 3o years later. For this it is now emerging as a energy leader in the world. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6220
India is setting to literally make this form of power central and competitive with fossil fuel energy. This power is planned to be generated both centrally and decentrally (through communities not accessible thru commercial energy). That is it is looking forward to make solar cheap, which as far as global problem is concerned is a very good untertaking. This however could very likely be a pain in the neck for selling costly electricity of the himalayas including that of Upper Karnali. Every hydro electricity in Nepal is costly including that of Kali Gandaki HEP which also uses the loop (geological structure) like Karnali. Perhaps Upper Karnali may sound lucrative now, but looking at the prospects of solar all around the world and especially in India, Upper Karnali and other similar project is a very high risk project.

Karnali river, for all the publicity it is gaining in the world as top 10 rafting rivers in the world, should be left alone. To find the authenticity of this last claim all you can do is type “top 10 rafting river in the world” in google and look at what comes out. You may perhaps be astonished to find that even a news media in US, msnbc (msnbc.com) mentioning Karnali for top 10 tier.

As per FULFILLING ENERGY DEMAND is concerned, Nepal should look forward to the Indians for lesson on solar energy production at decentralised level and plan accordingly. This is a doable way as it does not envolve huge risky project. And by the way gone are the days that claim solar power is expensive. Similary, hydropower is bound to be obsolete. If Nepal still stubbornly sticks to this old dogma called “hydropower”, Nepal is bound to lag behind.

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