🔆 Deadly Span: India’s Power Infrastructure Threatens Vultures
📍 Why in News?
🟢 India’s expanding power infrastructure is emerging as a major threat to vultures and other large raptors through electrocution.
🟢 A recent study near Dehradun, Uttarakhand, showed that relocating a livestock carcass dump away from high-tension power infrastructure may have prevented vulture deaths.
📍 India’s Vulture Crisis
🟢 India’s vulture population suffered one of the world’s worst wildlife population crashes, declining by around 99.5% by 2007 from an estimated four crore in the 1980s.
🟢 The white-rumped, Indian and slender-billed vultures were among the worst affected.
🟢 The primary cause was diclofenac, an NSAID used in cattle that caused kidney failure in vultures feeding on treated carcasses.
🟢 India banned veterinary use of diclofenac, followed by additional restrictions in 2023 on drugs such as aceclofenac and ketoprofen.
📍 Ecological and Public Health Consequences
🟢 The disappearance of vultures left carcasses exposed for longer periods.
🟢 This supported the growth of feral dog populations and contributed to an increase in rabies-related risks.
🟢 A 2024 study estimated that the vulture collapse increased human mortality by 4%, causing annual damages of about $69.4 billion in India.
📍 Why Are Power Lines Dangerous for Vultures?
🟢 Their large wingspans can cause them to simultaneously contact two conductors or an energised and grounded component, leading to electrocution.
🟢 Vultures often perch on elevated structures and inhabit open landscapes where power infrastructure is expanding.
🟢 Food waste dumped near electrical installations can attract and concentrate birds in high-risk areas.
🟢 Vultures are now nesting at only around 50% of their historic nesting sites, making the remaining populations particularly vulnerable.
📍 The Dehradun Case
🟢 A livestock carcass dump located near high-tension power infrastructure created a significant risk of electrocution.
🟢 Relocating the carcass dump 2.4 km away may have helped protect vultures.
🟢 An assessment also reported the electrocution of an Egyptian vulture and steppe eagles on medium-voltage lines, highlighting that even lower-voltage infrastructure can be dangerous.
📍 Major Concerns
🟢 Persistent mortality from electrocution can potentially drive a local vulture population towards extinction.
🟢 Avian electrocution is likely under-documented because dead birds may be removed by humans or scavenged.
🟢 Expansion of power infrastructure without ecological safeguards can create new threats for already fragile wildlife populations.
📍 Way Forward
🟢 Separate vulture feeding sites and carcass dumps from power infrastructure.
🟢 Insulate conductors in high-risk areas.
🟢 Increase the gap between energised and grounded components to prevent birds from bridging them.
🟢 Install safe perches and bird-safe designs, particularly near settlements and vulture habitats.
🟢 Conduct systematic monitoring and mapping of electrocution hotspots.
📍 Key Takeaway
🟢 India’s success in tackling chemical threats to vultures must not be undermined by a new infrastructure-driven threat.
🟢 Protecting vultures requires integrating wildlife conservation safeguards into power infrastructure planning.
🟢 The challenge demonstrates the importance of balancing energy expansion with biodiversity conservation.
🔹 UPSC Mains Question:
“Infrastructure development, if undertaken without ecological safeguards, can undermine biodiversity conservation. Examine in the context of India’s expanding power infrastructure and its threat to vultures.”
#Environment
1September 1, 2026 200 4
