The Centre will be seeking the help of the Indian Army to conserve the population of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard in the Pokhran Firing Range. According to the officials, the population in the firing range is undisturbed and efforts should be made to get support from the Army in conservation efforts for the protection of the bird. "The ministry would seek support of the Indian Army in the conservation and breeding programme of GIB at the ministerial level," read an official document. 

Wildlife Institute of India

According to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the GIB population has been reduced by 75 per cent in the last 30 years. Currently, only 150 members of the species remain. According to the WII's research, the biggest threat to the birds are the high voltage (33-440 KV) transmission lines with vertical alignment. It was noted by the government officials that the birds were near to extinction due to the collision with high voltage power lines that criss-cross their flying path. Despite a proposal for power line mitigation submitted by the WII in December last year, there are still new transmission lines coming up in the GIB area.

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Environmentalist and advocate Gaurav Bansal’s statement

Gaurav Bansal has approached the NGT on the issue. He said that the need of the hour was to direct all power companies to adopt mitigation measures for the protection of GIBs. He further stated that power companies situated in the GIB habitats have failed to adopt mitigation measures for the protection and conservation of GIBs. This has resulted in a huge wastage of public money which the Environment Ministry has for the protection of GIBs. "Because of the red tape attitude adopted by some other ministries concerned, there was no proper implementation of the ministry's plan for the conservation of the species. Several new companies are pressuring the government to grant a lease for establishing new projects in critical areas, which if permitted, situation will get worse," he added.

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Centre to conserve the endangered species 

The Environment Ministry will take the issue with the Ministry of Renewable Energy and Rajasthan Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd (RVPN) in Jaisalmer. The government has released Rs 33 crore for the conservation of the GIB through a project, titled 'Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard-An Integrated Approach', for five years from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for the conservation. The Rajasthan Forest Department has prepared an in-situ conservation plan for GIB in Desert National Park for a period of 2019-20 to 2028-29 in consultation with WII.

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(With PTI inputs)