- Following its lackluster performance, the Government of Nepal and World Bank (WB) have restructured the Power Development Fund (PDF).
PDF will no longer exclusively invest in small and medium power projects as it was initially supposed to do. The Fund is currently studying areas in which it can most effectively invest to promote hydropower development.

NEW DELHI: The country is facing a "severe power crisis,' particularly the southern and western regions. The poor monsoon in the south and parts of the west and the east has compounded the problem.

In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Assam, Haryana and Punjab, power cuts are becoming increasingly common, as the States face a huge deficit.

The Assam Government is concerned about the possible adverse effects of setting up of hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh and requested the Centre to conduct a detailed study on the cumulative effects that such projects may have in Assam before granting permission to establish such projects.

B.S. Satish Kumar BANGALORE: The power shortage assumed crisis proportions in Karnataka on Monday. Depletion of storage at hydel resources and technical snag at a generating unit at the Raichur Thermal Power Station have aggravated the problem. The power utilities resorted to unscheduled loadshedding throughout the State, including Bangalore, to make up for the power shortage. Many areas in Bangalore faced loadshedding varying from 90 minutes to two hours during peak demand while the loadshedding was even more in the remaining parts of the State.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said the policies of the present government are highly investment friendly and it would welcome foreign investment in hydropower projects. The Prime Minister said this while talking to Vice President China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) Wang Shaofeng who along with a delegation called on him at Prime Minister House.

BANGALORE: Karnataka is facing a 700 MW power shortage on account of a weak south-west monsoon and depletion of water-level in its hydel reservoirs. To tackle the power crisis, the State has decided to take various steps, including cloud seeding and purchasing more power from the Central grid and private power generators. The rainfall is deficient in 124 out of the 175 taluks of the State. The State Cabinet, which met here on Thursday, decided to ask the Union government to double its allocation from the southern power grid from the present 15 per cent share.

The Supreme Court Thursday held that no public will be entitled to file a public interest ligitation (PIL) in the matter concerning the sharing of water of any inter-state river and justified the construction of the hydro-electric project at Rajolibanda in Raichur district by the Karnataka government. While dismissing a PIL filed by Atma Linga Reddy and others from Andhra Pradesh, a bench headed by Justice C K Thakkar said, "The petition under Article 32 of the Constitution is not maintainable and is liable to be dismissed, no further action is called for.'' Party to disputes

Tapping energy or sapping the Himalayas -report by Chandi Prasad Bhatt, eminent activist and environmentalist A series of dams are being planned on the Ganga between the Gangotri glacier and Uttarkashi to generate hydropower. The government has an economic agenda that requires huge amount energy. Well, it can go ahead, but only after it has satisfied me on seven counts. There should be a detailed, in-depth study of the geology and the structures, by a team of scientists whose credential is proven and who should be inducted from reputed research organizations.