The issue came to light after a petition was filed with the NGT seeking conservation of Great Indian Bustard to save them from extinction.
November 29, 2019
To protect the ”critically” endangered Great Indian Bustard, the Centre has asked electricity companies to consider underground laying of high-voltage wires as the birds have died after coming in contact with power lines.
Noting that a miniscule population of less than 150 Great Indian Bustards was left in the country, a committee constituted on the directions of the National Green Tribunal, has decided to have a time-bound action plan to implement mitigation measures such as installation of bird diverters and their regular maintenance, and monitoring by power agencies. The report had compiled various studies conducted by researchers across the country on GIBs.
As per researchers, apart from the GIB, many other birds also die because of collision or electrocution with these transmission lines at the rate of 10 birds per km per month totaling nearly one lakh bird deaths annually in 4200 sq km.
