Civil Insight: A Technical Magazine Volume 3 | Page 74

Civil Insight (2019)
In Conversation with Er. Pratik Man Singh Pradhan
the people’s health and environment.
But the modern electricity would not be in
control of the people owing it. Once power is
cut, people sometimes need to wait for days or
weeks for its maintenance. Therefore, the
alternative that we provide must be available,
accessible, affordable, and reliable.
Q) Micro-hydropower projects outnumber
large hydropower projects in Nepal. Is
investing on many such micro scale
hydropower projects suitable or would it be
beneficial to invest in a single large-scale
project?
I would emphasize micro-hydropower. Most
of our communities are isolated villages. The
villages have the potential for hydropower
development. Additionally, the turbine
needed can be manufactured in our own
nation at a low cost. This will help us to utilize
our own resources, minimize the cost of
turbine and transmission cables, and give the
facility of electricity to the people living in
isolated villages.
Comparatively, having a large-scale project
would increase the cost of transmission
cables, manpower and turbine.
Nonetheless, the operation of Micro-
hydropower is to be kept in mind . Micro-
hydropower, once constructed, has no
manpower to repair it if damaged, and the
budget for repair and maintenance is not
allocated.
Q) Butwal Power Company is a leading
company of the power sector in Nepal. How is
BPC providing platform to fresh engineering
graduates like us?
Few years ago, we had four graduates from
Kathmandu University. This job is mostly
handled by the Human Resource Department.
Given that we are a private institution, we
prefer experienced engineers because fresh
graduates require more guidance. However,
according to the need of the manpower in the
projects, we do provide them with
opportunities.
Q) Can hydropower alone be enough to meet
the demand of energy in Nepal? Or do you
think we need to invest in other alternative
sources as well?
Q) Which sub-areas of hydropower projects
need more research and development?
We have the potential of solar as well as wind
energy in Nepal. Even though hydropower can
meet the need, I opine that investments also
have to be made in other alternative sources.
Hydropower needs more manpower and budget
compared to solar and wind energy. Therefore,
it is equally essential to develop other sources.
The obstruction caused, in general, is due to
soft soil and water leakage during
construction of tunnel. During the operation
phase, the turbines are generally destroyed
by the sediment particle striking on it. The
geology and sediments need more research
for the development of hydropower projects
in Nepal.
Q) In recent years, aspirant hydropower
engineers are emerging and actively working in
the field. Do you think the trend will continue
to grow or are there chances of fluctuations?
Q) As a Civil Engineer, what do you propose
for minimizing traditional fuel consumption?
In the present scenario of Nepal, the scope of
hydropower engineers is very high. If any
alternative energy is found more effective
compared to hydropower, then fluctuations
might happen. In European countries, solar
energy has already taken over hydropower.
Thus, some fluctuations can happen; however,
the knowledge acquired will not go wasted.
The environmental impact caused by the
traditional fuel used in our villages is very
less, but it has had a great impact in the
health of people. Our traditional woods have
been replaced by gas cylinders over the past
few years. If we could completely switch to
modern electricity, it would help us to utilize
our resources and have a better impact on
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