Much there being in the air about tapping huge potential of solar energy, power projects sanctioned in the year 2018 by Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh of 7500 Mega Watt capacity are nowhere to be seen in the pipeline. There were two more plants of 7 Mega Watts capacity similarly sanctioned and they too are subjected to inordinate delay. The task having been given to the Solar Energy Corporation of India to proceed further with the mega project, it is learnt, even floated tenders. Since the entire area of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh is at number two in the entire country in having huge solar power potential, the same was envisaged over the years to be tapped and exploited which culminated in 2018 only when a decision to develop 7500 Mega Watts solar power projects was decided. The total capacity, however, was to be generated and achieved in several phases.
The delay in taking a decision was ostensibly due to the formalities of identification of suitable land as also there being no proper infrastructure for transmission of power to be generated from the projects under reference. Anyway, those who came forward to offer tenders were asked to visit identified sites but the entire process was to be completed by April 2019. That could not however, materialise as the areas purported to be visited were full of snow hindering movement and hence the assessment of the areas vis-a-vis the conductivity for erecting of the power projects. Much of the technicalities and the rosy DPR apart, much hyped plans appear to have not travelled beyond papers and files though knowing fully the ever increasing demand for power in the entire two Union Territories, not to speak of only Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh. What is the latest status of the selected solar power developers is not known.
As is wont with the administrative machinery that no follow up measures are taken and those entrusted with the job, perhaps, never reminded or inquired about what difficulties kept them away from proceeding further. A lucrative scheme of purchasing of power for 35 years on the basis of power purchase agreement between the Solar Energy Corporation of India with the successful bidders should have resulted in close monitoring of the developments but when even the site visits are not undertaken and considerably delayed, no headway was noticeable in the said projects. Restrictions and other humps on account of an unexpected pandemic of corona virus are making things more complicated for the field staff to proceed ahead with the preliminaries of the projects. It is apparent and we say it on the basis of watching the developments, that less than required interest and enthusiasm was seen in the concerned authorities so far as any project of solar power generation was concerned. We hope that while currently maximum attention and priority are given to combating and fighting the corona virus pandemic, solar power projects too would get some attention side by side so that the huge available but untapped potential of solar power was utilized at an early date.
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