Flamingo deaths in Gujarat

Officials who had ignored complaints from nature lovers about hundreds of flamingoes being electrocuted daily — by high-tension wires — swung into action finally. Officials of Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO) visited the 300-hectare marsh on the outskirts of Bhavnagar and camped there throughout the day. “We have visited the site and carried out video recordings to ascertain the cause of the birds’ deaths. We are also getting a postmortem done to determine whether they died of electrocution or some other cause,” said N P Maheshwari, superintending engineer, Amreli circle, GETCO. “It seems that there may be reasons other than electrocution as our sub-stations have not reported birds hit,” Maheshwari said. However, members of the Dharmakumarsinhji Nature Conservation Society, which had reported the dangers of the wires, said the bodies of the flamingoes were found mostly below the wires. They also said the flamingoes could be seen falling after hitting the wires. “If the wires are the reason behind the deaths of the birds, we will find a solution immediately,” Maheswari said. The solutions involve coating the wires with an insulator, diverting the line or taking it underground. According to locals, the situation is made worse by stray dogs which attack these birds, causing the flock to take off in panic and hit the 66KV high-tension cables. “To minimise the casualty, the forest department should at least catch the stray dogs,” said Harshil Shah, a member of Black Buck Nature Club, Bhavnagar. “We tried to carry out a rescue operation but are unable to save their lives as they are injured badly,” he said. The wetland near Kumbharwada-Nari road is a significant habitat of flamingoes.