GANDHINAGAR, FEB 19
At a time when the central government has ordered undergrounding of distribution line cables for new projects up to 33 kilovolts, a leading state-run transmission company has decided to back a study to find out the impacts of the power line on various bird species and to come up with possible solutions.
According to The Times of India report, the study, carried out by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and sponsored by Power Grid Corp of India, is centred around Kutch which is home to a large number of birds. Kutch also has a large number of industries and power generating units and a lot of power cables spread across the areas have caused bird hits and bird deaths in the past.
“Through the study, we aim to find out critical areas and high use areas from where the power lines pass and pose a potential risk to the birds that travel through these paths. Kutch has a large congregation of birds including cranes, flamingos, and pelicans that could collide with some power lines in their path. Also, raptors face a similar issue,” said Suresh Kumar, a senior researcher at WII.
He said that the study would look at solutions like re-routing of electric lines and doing an in-depth analysis of putting diverters to avoid bird hits.
While Kutch has about 4,500 kilometres of transmission lines, the distribution lines are not mapped due to the unavailability of proper data and rapid addition of newer lines. Birds like some large raptors get injured after colliding with distribution lines of 11KV to 66KV. In the case of cranes and flamingos, they face the challenges of electrocution due to collision with transmission lines carrying high voltage power of 132KV to 1,200KV, said Kumar.
In 2010, as many as 400 demoiselle cranes got electrocuted in Khadir area of Kutch after they collided with power lines. Similar instances took place a few years ago at Bhavnagar where 30 cranes got electrocuted.
Earlier this month, the central government passed guidelines for underground distribution lines of 33KV and below for upcoming projects, said sources. The critically endangered Great Indian Bustard, which is the mascot for the ongoing 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) at Gandhinagar, faces the risk of extinction. One of the major reasons cited for their deaths is their collision to power lines in Rajasthan and Kutch.
