Great Indian Bustard habitat: Govt urges SC to modify order on underground cables

• This year marks the 50th anniversary of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, which saw the creation of Bangladesh. India declared victory over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, after the Pakistani armed forces surrendered.
• Since then, this day has been commemorated as Vijay Diwas to remember the sacrifices of defence forces.

Great Indian Bustard (GIB)

About

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

Habitat:

• Untamed, 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.

Threats to the Bird: Hunting, Intensification of agriculture, Power lines.

Indian Initiatives for Protection of GIB

• Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard-An Integrated Approach: The government has released ?33 crores for the conservation of the GIB through this project.
• Its tenure is for five years
• Fund has been devolved from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)
• Technical support will be provided by WII.
• Directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT): NGT ordered a time-bound action plan for the implementation of mitigation measures such as installation of bird diverters and their regular maintenance and monitoring by power agencies.
• A Bustard conservation breeding centre in Rajasthan has been set up in Jaisalmer.
• Conservation Reserves: Great Indian Bustard habitats to be declared as conservation reserves.
• Project Great Indian Bustard launched by the Rajasthan government

Challenges/ Difficulties in Implementation

• It has implications for the Power sector, & makes renewable energy remain untapped.
• Poor Financial Conditions of Discoms & affect over Jobs.
• Area falling in Rajasthan and Gujarat contains a large proportion of the country’s total solar and wind energy potential.
• Laying power lines underground will escalate the cost of renewable energy production and hurt India’s renewable energy targets.
• India has set a target to achieve installed renewable energy capacity (excluding large Hydro) of 175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.
• These areas were arid areas that required electricity for sourcing water. So reducing wires is difficult.
• The High Voltage lines can not be made underground. And Diverters are very costly to install and maintain."