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The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has issued Draft Central Electricity Authority (Construction of Electric Lines in Great Indian Bustard Area) Regulations, 2023, according to which all electric lines of 33 kV and below passing through the ‘Great Indian Bustard Area’ will be underground, while those above 33KV will be overhead lines installed with bird flight diverters.
The regulations, issued on February 1, came in light of a case in the Supreme Court on the issue of threat to the endangered Great Indian Bustards. The petitioners in the Supreme Court case have objected to the regulations, saying they are in direct violation of the court’s directives and a threat to the endangered species.
The Great Indian Bustard is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world and has disappeared from 90% of its habitat except in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has categorised the species as 'critically endangered'. According to the petitioners, overhead power lines are the biggest threat to the birds.
According to the SC order issued on April 19, 2021, all electricity lines passing through the Great Indian Bustard territory needs to be underground – this is for both existing as well as new electricity lines. However, none of the existing lines have been moved underground. “Yes, the new lines are being laid underground but when the authority says that power lines under 33KV voltage will go underground, this primarily means 11, 13 and 15KV lines – which are anyway exempt,’’says petitioner M K Ranjit Sinh, former director, wildlife, and the chair of the committee on cheetahs set up by the government. The CEA had called for objections and suggestions from the public by March 3.
“This is an attempt by the CEA to circumvent the Supreme Court orders, and we have made this clear in the feedback that we have sent them,’’says Sinh.
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