After Karnataka High Court Rap, State Govt Reconstitutes Expert Committee For Great Indian Bustard

Advocate Vikram Huilgol appearing for the state on Tuesday submitted a memo to the court informing that Chief Conservator of Forest Ballari has issued an official memorandum reconstitution of the advisory committee in order to give appropriate advice for the conservation of the Great Indian Bustard.

The revised committee now consists of Deputy Conservator of Forest—Ballari as its Chairman. The members of the committee are Dr Manohar, Professor of Zoology, Veerashaiva College, Dr Arun, MBBS/MS Surgeon, Tashildar, Siruguppa Taluk, Range Forest Officer, Ballari Range and Samad Kottur, Lecturer, Government PU Colleges, Hospet and Dr H N Kumar, Principal Scientist Division of Conservator Biology of SACON and Dr Sutirtha Dutta, scientist at Wildlife Institute of India. The state government by order dated June 17, 2020 has formed the advisory committee.

During the hearing, advocate Revathi Shivakumar appearing for the petitioner expressed apprehension that unless the advisory committee acts with sense of urgency and submits advice to the state government at the earliest even the birds which have survived may not survive.

Following this, the bench directed the state government to ensure that a copy of present petition is placed before the reconstituted advisory committee to enable the committee to make immediate recommendations containing steps taken for conservation of GIB. It also directed the decision to be placed before the court on the next date of hearing.

The direction was given during the hearing of a petition filed by conversationalist Edward Santosh Martin and others. The petition states the illegal actions of respondents, undertaking civil works such as construction of watch towers and anti-poaching camps, within the area of habitat of the species has pushed the species to the brink of extinction which is a blatant violation of Part III, Schedule I of the Wild Life(Protection) Act, 1972.

It is stated that GIB is a bird with an average age of about 12-15 years. Studies have shown that it lays about one egg every one to two years. In case of a drought, the bird may lay no eggs at all. Under ideal circumstances, the bustard chicks hatched have a survival rate of 60-70%.

Around the time of Independence, the GIB was found throughout Western India, spanning eleven states, including Rajasthan, (across the border shared with Pakistan), Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka. Today, however, the bird has disappeared from over 90% of its traditional habitat. It is now restricted to fragmented pockets with very low populations in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Kamataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

In 2006, after years of exploring, a team of wild life enthusiasts including the Petitioner No 1, discovered about 'nine bustards' in a remote corner of Ballari district, Siruguppa Karnataka. They had documented a few young ones as well, indicating that Karnataka had a breeding population. Since then, the NGO, along with local volunteers and Karnataka Forest Department (KFD), have been monitoring sightings of this species.

Further, the plea says in May 2020, the KFD began digging hundreds of pits to plant saplings of tall trees in the very same area the GIBs were found. Converting grassland to a tree plantation is not conducive for the GIB.

"The GIB is an open-country bird that avoids areas with dense and tall plants. In addition to this, anti-poaching camps and five watchtowers are being constructed in great haste. These buildings and tall trees will cause hindrance to the birds and cause them to fly away in search of favorable habitats," the plea says.

It is added "The presence of tall structures (such as the ones built now by the Karnataka Forest Department) will adversely impact these low flying birds which have poor frontal vision. GIBs prefer open grasslands without structures and tall trees. Many GIB deaths have been reported in India when these birds hit power lines, tall structures or tall wind power generators because of poor frontal vision. Great Indian Bustards stopped breeding in Karnataka's only GIB Sanctuary, Ranebennur because the Forest Department built tall structures."

The petitioners highlight that the existing constructions will be removed by this winter at the latest so that the GIBs may perhaps breed again in the spring. If they miss the breeding season for the second year at a stretch, their extinction from Karnataka is definite as there are not more than 8 surviving species of GIB in Karnataka.