JODHPUR: The state government is making preparations for captive breeding of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) for conservation of this near extinct state bird. However, in Rajasthan too, in the absence of concerted efforts, their population has declined drastically from 250 to 50-60 in the past 20 years.A project for GIB conservation was sanctioned eight years back for which Rs 22 crore were approved, but nothing has happened till date, according to experts. Lands have been identified in Jaisalmer and Kota for captive breeding of GIB and the gram panchayats concerned have given in-principle consent for handing over land for the purpose.A reply filed by AAG Sandeep Shah in the high court said that the process of land transfer will take place soon wherein 700 hectares of land will be given in Kota’s Sursan and 193 hectares in Jaisalmer’s Ramdeora for captive breeding of the GIBs.“These centres will be developed on the lines of those in Abu Dhabi and assistance of experts from there would be taken for during captive breeding. A tripartite agreement has been signed between Wild Life Institute of India, state forest department and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC),” Shah said.It may be noted that taking a serious notice of the dipping count of GIB in the state, the division bench of Justice Sangeet Lodha and Dinesh Mehta had sought reply from the government on January 15 on the steps taken by them for conservation of GIBs.Issues like tagging of the bird and threat from high-tension power transmission lines were also raised by the counsel of MoEFCC stating that permission sought by the state government for tagging of the birds was not obtained but Shah argued that it would not be in national interest as the birds, many-a-times, crossed the border.Shah also informed the court that the state government had decided to install diverters to prevent birds from falling prey to high-tension power lines.“The government has made available 35 diverters and wind power generation companies have been directed to install them,” Shah said.According to wildlife experts, GIBs were originally found in Rajasthan, Gujarat , MP and AP but their numbers have reduced to 4-5 elsewhere, except for Rajasthan.
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