New power lines might accelerate bustard extinction in Gujarat

The thrust towards green energy is having an environmental cost that few had foreseen. The power lines that connect windmills and solar power plants are turning out to be death traps for the critically endangered Great Indian Bustards (GIB) in Gujarat.

In the last decade alone, power lines have claimed the lives of about 10-15 GIBs in the GIB-range states of India.

If that wasn't enough, the GETCO substation at Bhachunda, where the company plans to put about 15 to 20 power lines, is another potential death trap, claim activists, adding that it is right in the middle of a bustard habitat.

Devesh Gadhvi of The Corbett Foundation, an organisation that is working towards GIB conservation, said, "The windmills, by virtue of being green energy, do not require an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) before being set up, especially outside forest areas. The same happens with the power lines as well. 

This means that when such plants are set up in revenue areas, adjacent to the forest areas, which are actually important bustard habitats, no EIA is done to check its impact on such threatened species. Sadly, our system realises this only when such fatal incidents happen. The GIB has fallen victim to this shortsightedness," said Gadhvi.

He said that in Gujarat, power lines crisscross close to the GIB sanctuary and most of the other GIB habitat outside the protected areas in Kutch. "Bustards have poor eyesight and various research studies have proved that bustard species are more vulnerable to collision with power lines. They are one of the heaviest flying birds, so by the time they detect the lines, they collide. As a moral responsibility, concerned energy department should consult scientific organisations, like Wildlife Institute of India, prior to installing powerlines, so that such fatal impact on a population can be reduced," said Gadhvi.

"We are not saying that the all the power lines should be made underground. Only those that have been identified as the riskiest lines by research study of WII, and those, which fall in the bird's flight need to be made underground," said Gadhvi. He said a committee formed to look into taking these power lines underground is yet to come up with any decision in this matter. In addition, if the last male collides with the lines, then it will be an end to this species, Gadhvi added, asking, if this happens due to such delay, then who will be held responsible for the extinction of a species from Gujarat?

There is a reason why conservationists believe that time is running out for the GIBs. There are only less than 25 left in Gujarat and of this, only one male GIB lives, thus putting a question mark on their survival. A forest officer described its status as 'extremely critically endangered'.

Plans of captive breeding the birds in a joint effort with Rajasthan have also not materialised due to bureaucratic tangles.

KS Randhawa, CCF, Kutch Circle, said that a decision on taking power lines, in and around the bustard sanctuary, underground is likely to come in August. "We are doing everything to ensure their survival. Various factors make the efforts very difficult," said Randhawa.

Sutirtha Dutta, the co-investigator in the GIB conservation project and faculty of Wildlife Institute of India said that power lines are the number one killer of GIBs in the country, and other bustard species worldwide.

"Based on bird carcass surveys, at least 15 per cent of GIBs are estimated to die due to collision with power lines every year. If steps are not taken to expeditiously mitigate this problem, the GIB may be extinct soon. Powerlines are not only a threat to GIB but also a range of other birds, as our surveys show," said Dutta.

Of the five birds that the institute had tagged for its conservation project in Maharashtra and Gujarat, two have already died due to collision with power lines.

"We have identified critical stretches where the power lines need to be undergrounded or marked with bird diverters on an urgent basis. Moreover, there is a need to sensitise the power companies too about the impact of power lines on such an endangered species, and policy guidelines to mitigate powerlines in critical wildlife habitats, which needs to happen at the government level," said Dutta.