The Supreme Court (SC) bench led by the Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde has asked Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to file an authentic report on the undergrounding of power cables while hearing a matter pertaining to the death of a large number of the endangered Great Indian Bustard due to collisions with high-voltage power lines.

The Apex sought to know the views of Attorney General K K Venugopal on laying of underground cables for protecting the endangered birds, the Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican. The top court was hearing a plea for installation of bird diverters and laying of underground cables to protect endangered birds-- the Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican.

On February 18, last year the top court had asked the Rajasthan government to consider laying underground cables to protect the two endangered birds saying that they are large birds and it is difficult for them to maneuver due to the high-tension power lines which obstruct their flight paths.

The court had said that one of the dangers is the presence of high voltage power lines, which obstruct the flight path of the GIB and one of the solutions suggested is to avoid any collision in its flight path by laying over-head wires underground. Over the last 50 years the population of the GIB has recorded a decline of over 82 percent, falling from an estimated 1,260 in 1969, to 100-150 in 2018.

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