Question

Answer question numbers (a) to (d) on the basis of your understanding of the following paragraph and the related studies concepts.

The Tehri dam is the highest dam in India and one of the highest in the World. The Tehri dam withholds a reservoir of capacity 4.0 km3 and surface area 52 km2. It is used for irrigation, municipal water supply and the generation of 1000 MW of hydro electricity. The Tehri Dam has been the object of protests. Environment activist Shri Sunder Lal Bahuguna led the “Anti-Tehri Dam Movement” from 1980s to 2014. The protest was against the displacement of town inhabitants and environmental consequences of the weak ecosystem. The relocation of more than 1,00,000 people from the area has led to protracted legal battles over resettlement rights and ultimately resulted in the delayed completion of the project.

1. How is hydropower harnessed?  1
2. Define 1 MW.  1
3. Mention two disadvantages of constructing Tehri Dam. 1
4. What happens when water from great heights is made to fall on blades of turbine?  1

Answer 1

1. To stop the river’s flow and gather water in sizable reservoirs, high-rise dams are built on it. The kinetic energy of flowing water is converted into potential energy as the water level increases. Water from the dam’s high level is sent by pipelines to the turbines at the bottom, where it is transformed into power.
2. 1 M W = 1 × 10⁶ W
3. Relocation of a sizable population from their native settlement.
4. Environmental instability brought on by deforestation and a decline in the richness of plants and animals.
5. In a turbine, potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy. Electricity is produced by a rotating turbine in a magnetic field.