NGT seeks report from MoEF on Great Indian Bustard

The NGT Thursday asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests to submit a detailed report on the deaths of the Great Indian Bustard, after a plea said that 75 per cent of the critically endangered birds have died due to collision with power lines.

A bench headed by National Green Tribunal chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the ministry to submit the report in two months.

The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by the Centre for Wildlife and Environment Litigation, through advocate Gaurav Bansal, seeking directions to the ministry to make bio-diversity impact assessment mandatory for every wind-power project, irrespective of its size or capacity.

The plea said that as per 30th Forest Advisory Committee meeting, power lines, especially high-voltage transmission lines with multiple overhead wires, are the most important current threat to the critically endangered species as they have poor frontal vision. It said 75 per cent of the birds have died due to collision with power lines in the past 30 years.

The petitioner has sought a status report on the issue of undergrounding high-risk powerlines in Great Indian Bustard habitats of Thar Desert, Jaisalmer Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.

It has also sought a report on the issue of installation of bird flight diverter on medium-risk powerlines besides penal action against those transmission companies which have failed to adopt mitigation measures.

The Great Indian Bustard is a bird found on the Indian subcontinent and has a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich like appearance.

It is among the heaviest of the flying birds and the species is critically endangered by hunting and loss of its habitat. It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.