Why in news?

Recently, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment to strengthen conservation of the Great Indian Bustard, focusing on preventing bird deaths caused by collisions with overhead power lines linked to renewable energy projects.

Acting on recommendations from an expert committee, the Court demarcated priority conservation areas for the critically endangered species and laid down a mechanism to reroute or manage overhead power lines in these zones.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Background: What the Supreme Court Was Examining?
• Measures Ordered by the Supreme Court
• Conservation Measures Directed by the Supreme Court

Background: What the Supreme Court Was Examining

• A retired bureaucrat & environmentalist approached the Supreme Court of India seeking urgent protection for Great Indian Bustard (GIB).
• The petition flagged rising fatal collisions with renewable energy transmission lines in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• Poor frontal vision and heavy body make GIBs highly vulnerable to overhead wires.
• Key Supreme Court Directions (2021–2024)
  • 2021 order - Ban on new overhead power lines across ~99,000 sq km of GIB habitat; Assessment of undergrounding high-voltage lines; Mandatory bird diverters
  • March 2024 modification
    • Withdrawal of blanket ban on overhead lines; Following concerns raised by the Ministry of Power, MNRE, and MoEFCC over feasibility and sector-wide impact.
• Balancing Conservation and Clean Energy
• Court acknowledged the need to balance:
  • Climate commitments and renewable energy expansion, and
  • Protection of a critically endangered species
  • Held that undergrounding alone is insufficient for conservation.
• It constituted an expert committee of wildlife and power-sector specialists.
• Basis of the Final Judgment
  • Expert committee recommendations guided the Court’s latest ruling.
  • The judgment introduced targeted safeguards for the GIB while accommodating India’s renewable energy goals.

Measures Ordered by the Supreme Court

• Acting on recommendations from an expert committee, the Supreme Court of India approved a package of measures across three pillars:
  • redrawing conservation zones;
  • voltage-based mitigation for power lines (rerouting or undergrounding);
  • creation of dedicated powerline corridors to reduce collision risk.
• Revised Priority Conservation Areas
  • Rajasthan: Priority areas expanded from 13,163 sq km to 14,013 sq km.
  • Gujarat: Priority areas increased from 500 sq km to 740 sq km.
  • These zones represent core habitats and breeding areas identified by the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
  • Contestation: Petitioners opposed the exclusion of 657 sq km (eastern Rasla–Degray Oran), arguing it is a vital wintering and stopover corridor between Pokhran and Desert National Park.
  • Critical sites prioritised include: Desert National Park; Salkha–Kuchri; Sanu–Mokla–Parewar; Pokhran Field Firing Range (PFFR) and its buffer/eastern periphery; Dholiya; Khetolai; and Chacha.
• Dedicated Powerline Corridors
  • Rajasthan: New powerline corridors up to 5 km wide, placed ≥5 km south of Desert National Park, to carry rerouted overhead lines.
  • Gujarat: Dedicated corridors of 1–2 km width to evacuate power from wind/solar projects in coastal Kutch.
  • Route optimisation mandate: Where multiple green-energy pooling stations terminate at a common grid station, authorities must converge routes into a common stretch wherever feasible.
• Project Restrictions in Priority Areas
  • No new overhead power lines within revised priority areas except via designated corridors (lines ≤11 kV exempt).
  • No new wind turbines in priority areas.
  • No new solar parks/plants >2 MW, and no expansion of existing solar parks, within priority areas.
• Voltage-Based Mitigation (Undergrounding & Timelines)
  • Rajasthan:
    • Immediate undergrounding of 80 km of 33 kV lines (of 104 km identified earlier).
    • All burying/rerouting to start immediately and finish before 2028.
  • Gujarat:
    • Immediate undergrounding of 79.2 km of 33 kV lines in priority areas.
    • 64.9 km of 66 kV lines earmarked for immediate undergrounding.
    • WII-identified 250 km of critical lines to be buried within 2 years.
• Bird Flight Diverters: Evidence-Based Pause
  • The Court did not issue blanket directions on installing bird flight diverters.
  • Instead, it directed the committee to assess their effectiveness in reducing collision mortality and submit findings to the Centre.

Conservation Measures Directed by the Supreme Court

• The apex court endorsed a mix of general and State-specific measures to strengthen conservation of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), alongside the ongoing Project GIB.
• Measures for Rajasthan
  • Grassland Restoration and Consolidation - Priority on restoration, conservation, and consolidation of grassland ecosystems, the GIB’s primary habitat.
  • In-situ Habitat Management
    • To support survival in the wild, the Court directed:
    • Enclosure improvements to secure breeding and foraging areas
    • Predator management, including control of free-ranging dogs and reptiles that prey on eggs
    • Food and water management to stabilise resources
    • Community engagement to reduce human-wildlife conflict and support local stewardship
• Measures for Gujarat
  • ‘Jump-Start’ Breeding in the Wild
    • Adoption of a ‘jump-start’ method: transferring fertile eggs from Rajasthan to Gujarat.
    • Technique involves swapping an infertile egg with a fertile one, enabling the female to incubate and raise the chick in natural conditions.
  • Technology-Enabled Monitoring
    • GPS tagging of birds to track movements and support the jump-start breeding process and post-release monitoring.