NEW DELHI: The state electricity boards (SEBs) now onwards will have to apply guard spikes on poles to discourage elephants from rubbing against them. The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court last week instructed the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to issue guidelines to all SEBs and forest departments on a petition by a reputed wildlife NGO, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI).
Cases of animals, particularly elephants, dying due to electrocution after rubbing against electricity poles and being trapped by live wire at wetlands during summer, have whopped up recently.
The CEA, in its turn, asked all SEBs follow guidelines on the "laying of transmission/ distribution lines in areas critical from the wildlife point of view".
The CEC instruction to the CEA came after a hearing last week on the Electrocution Petition of the WPSI, filed in 2003. The respondents were the ministry of power, CEA, SEBs and various state forest departments.
Fixing of guard spikes on poles apart, the CEA guidelines include strengthening of security to prevent poaching by wire tapping, joint inspections by electricity and forest departments and strategic coordination between the SEBs and forest departments while stringing wires into forest areas.
It was a classic case of what a proactive move can do to save wildlife from electrocution in forest areas. The WPSI filed the Electrocution Petition in 2003 with a 15-year data on wildlife electrocutions both by accident and poaching.
In a break-up the NGO submitted state and species wise break-ups of animald died due to electrocution. "It was a brainstorming session among the WPSI and the CEC and the CEA, before the instruction for the guidelines were elicited," said a spokesperson of the WPSI.
"Analysis of this data revealed a horrifying scenario, from groups of elephants being accidentally electrocuted to poachers running live wires into water holes during summer. The respondents and CEC were stunned at the reality," spokesperson added.
