Micro-hydel power projects

You may be knowing that the movie Swades was inspired by a real-life incident. Looks like these young engineers from Kerala (Anil and Madhoo) also won a prize at MIT in 2003. Dilip D'Souza's articles explain it all:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/11dilip.htm
http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/aug/31dilip.htm

Per the information in http://technovators.mit.edu/Winners2003/Anil_Madhu.html, "Anil and Madhu estimate that the potential for these projects in certain areas of India is huge. Kerala, famous for its backwaters, for example could generate 2000MW of power through microhydel projects (the present installed capacity of the entire state is 2500 MW!). If these two men get their way, they could revolutionize power generation in small villages and save a way of life that is facing the dire threat of being lost forever."

Isn't that cool?

BTW, I think Swades is one of the sweetest movies made in recent times. Hats off to Ashutosh Gowariker, Shahrukh and ARR!