Power threat to the bustard

Power threat to the bustard

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

• The Supreme Court will review its April 2021 order to bury underground all power lines in the habitat of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), after the Centre found the order “practically impossible to implement” over long distances.

Details:

• The court created a seven-member committee that will suggest steps to protect and conserve the GIB, identifying critical areas where power lines may have to go underground.

Why do windmills and powerlines kill bustards?

• GIBs have a narrow frontal vision and large size.
• Unlike some birds that have panoramic vision around their head, species like raptors and bustards have extensive blind areas above their head forward to scan the ground below, they fly blind in the direction of travel.
• Other threats to GIBs:
  • Free-ranging dogs, ferals and Chinkaras
  • Widespread use of pesticides in farmlands

What is the Great Indian Bustard?

• One of the heaviest flying birds endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
• State Bird of Rajasthan.

Habitat: 

• Arid grasslands.
• A Maximum number of GIBs were found in Jaisalmer and the Indian Army-controlled field firing range near Pokhran, Rajasthan.
• Other areas: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Protection Status:

• IUCN Status: Critically Endangered.
• Listed in Wildlife Protection Act’s Schedule 1.

Significance of GIBs in the ecosystem-

• Terrestrial birds spend most of their time on the ground, feeding on insects, lizards, grass seeds, etc. GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland and hence barometers of the health of grassland ecosystems.

Great Indian Bustard: Conservation efforts

• The Supreme Court in April 2021 ordered that all overhead power transmission lines in core and potential GIB habitats in Rajasthan and Gujarat should be made underground.
  • The Great Indian Bustard is listed in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby, according it highest degree of legal protection from hunting.
  • Important habitats of Great Indian Bustards are designated as National Parks/Sanctuaries for their better protection.
  • The species has been identified for conservation efforts under the component ‘Species Recovery Programme’ of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)-Development of Wildlife Habitat. Financial and technical assistance is provided to the State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Development of Wildlife Habitat for providing better protection to Great Indian Bustard and its habitat.
• Ministry has taken up an initiative on conservation breeding of the Great Indian Bustard in collaboration with Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra Forest Departments and technical support from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. The Ministry with financial support from National Authority for Compensatory Afforestation Funds has sanctioned an outlay of Rs. 33.85 crores for the duration of five years for the programme titled ‘Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard-an integrated approach’. The objective of this programme is to build up captive population of Great Indian Bustard and to release the chicks in the wild for increasing the population and also to promote in-situ conservation of the species.
• The Great Indian Bustard has been included in the Appendix I of Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) of the basis of proposal submitted by India. It was also the mascot of the prestigious 13^th CMS Conference of Parties held in Gandhinagar giving wider publicity for the conservation of the species