{"id":57895,"date":"2025-08-03T11:45:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T06:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=57895"},"modified":"2025-08-05T16:37:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T11:07:28","slug":"thar-desert-wind-farms-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/thar-desert-wind-farms-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind Farms of Thar Desert Record World\u2019s Highest Bird Mortality Rate"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Wind Farms Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new study has found that wind farms in India\u2019s Thar Desert have the world\u2019s highest recorded bird mortality rates, raising concerns over the environmental impact of renewable energy expansion.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As India accelerates its push towards renewable energy to meet growing climate commitments and power demands, an unintended consequence has emerged in the form of large-scale bird deaths.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A study by the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wildlife-institute-of-india\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Wildlife Institute of India<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (WII) reveals that <\/span><b>wind farms in the Thar Desert have the highest recorded bird mortality rates in the world<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with critically endangered species such as the <\/span><b>Great Indian bustard<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> under threat.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Key Findings on Bird Mortality in the Thar Desert<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study, published in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nature Scientific Reports<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, was conducted across <\/span><b>3,000 sq. km of desert landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which hosts about <\/span><b>900 wind turbines<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and over <\/span><b>270 bird species<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers conducted <\/span><b>seven multi-season surveys<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> around 90 randomly selected turbines, identifying <\/span><b>124 bird carcasses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> within a 150-meter radius.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The annual estimated bird mortality was a staggering <\/span><b>4,464 birds per 1,000 sq. km<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, after accounting for carcass detection challenges such as scavenging and terrain obstacles.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By contrast, control sites, located 500 to 2,000 meters away from turbines, showed <\/span><b>zero bird deaths<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, confirming the turbines as the primary cause.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Notably, the study&#8217;s mortality estimate of <\/span><b>1.24 bird deaths per turbine per month<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is significantly higher than previous findings from Kutch and Davangere, which reported <\/span><b>0.47 deaths per turbine annually<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Species at Risk and Regional Vulnerability<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Thar Desert forms a crucial segment of the Central Asian Flyway<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a major migration route for birds across Eurasia, making it an ecologically sensitive zone.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The area also serves as a prominent wintering ground, further amplifying the risk of avian fatalities due to wind power infrastructure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the most vulnerable bird species are <\/span><b>raptors<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which are long-lived and reproduce slowly.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their <\/span><b>soaring flight patterns and altitude<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> bring them directly into the rotating blades of wind turbines, making them especially susceptible to collisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These additional mortalities can lead to <\/span><b>population-level impacts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, particularly for endangered species.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Proposed Mitigation Measures<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several mitigation strategies have been proposed globally and domestically to address the issue of bird deaths at wind farms:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Blade painting<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Painting one turbine blade black to increase visibility for birds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Timed shutdowns<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Halting turbine operations during high-risk periods such as migration seasons or early morning hours.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Site selection<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Most crucially, experts recommend careful <\/span><b>pre-installation site assessments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to avoid high-avian-sensitivity zones.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One key tool in this regard is the <\/span><b>Avian Sensitivity Tool for Energy Planning (AVISTEP)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, an open-source platform developed by BirdLife International.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It helps developers identify zones classified into \u2018low\u2019, \u2018moderate\u2019, \u2018high\u2019, and \u2018very high\u2019 sensitivity to bird species.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, experts stress that <\/span><b>AVISTEP must be complemented by detailed ground-level studies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the severity of impacts, <\/span><b>onshore wind energy projects in India are currently not mandated to conduct environmental impact assessments (EIAs)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before installation, a gap that requires urgent regulatory attention.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Offshore Wind Energy: An Emerging Focus<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is now turning its attention to <\/span><b>offshore wind energy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, considered a less land-intensive alternative.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The country plans to install <\/span><b>30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy already issuing <\/span><b>4 GW of bids in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With <\/span><b>7,600 km of coastline<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and 2.3 million sq. km of exclusive economic zones, India has immense potential for offshore wind.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), the addition of offshore wind capacity in states like Gujarat can help ensure <\/span><b>grid reliability during peak loads<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, experts caution that <\/span><b>marine biodiversity impacts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> must not be overlooked.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Offshore wind projects involve complex infrastructure that can disrupt marine habitats, increase noise levels, and degrade water quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Gulf of Khambhat EIA report<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> documented the presence of sensitive species like dolphins and sharks, with warnings about construction-phase disturbances.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although EIAs are <\/span><b>mandatory for offshore wind projects<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, concerns remain about the <\/span><b>accuracy and duration of ecological assessments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, especially in high-biodiversity zones such as the Gujarat coast, which lies along both the <\/span><b>Central Asian and African-Eurasian flyways<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source :<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/worlds-highest-bird-death-rates-at-thar-desert-wind-farms\/article69868496.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thar Desert wind farms have the highest global bird death rates, raising concerns over renewable energy&#8217;s impacts on wildlife.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":58198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,22,59,1978],"class_list":{"0":"post-57895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","10":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","11":"tag-wind-farms","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}