SC wants underground electric lines to protect great Indian bustards

Concerned over fatality of already endangered protect Great Indian Bustard and lesser falcon in Rajasthan from the overhead high tension electric lines, the Supreme Court has asked the State Government, Environment Ministry and Power Grid Corporation of India to give time frame for putting them underground.

The Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Arvind Bobde, Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant noted that there are only some 150 Great Indian Bustards left while Lesser Falcon are in a few hundred, with serious concern over their survival.

Urging the court not to pass any order, Additional Advocate General of Rajasthan Dr. Manish Singhvi told the court that Rajasthan government would explore the way to take underground the overhead transmission lines which became fatal to Great Indian Bustard after heavy bird gets entangled in them and gets electrocuted.

The Court on Tuesday asked the Environment Ministry to finalise the terms of reference of the committee it had set up in the last hearing on July 15, 2019, to address the issue arising from the PIL filed before it by former bureaucrat M K Ranjit Sinh who had also served as director, wildlife protection.

Ranjit Singh has contended in his petition that the number of Great Indian Bustards has gone down alarmingly from 1260 in 1992 to just 150 in 2018.

The court regretted that terms of reference of the committee set up by it in the last hearing in July 2019 have not been framed till now.