Killer wires to go underground.

TNN Dec 20, 2011, 04.25AM ISTAHMEDABAD: The deadly high-voltage power lines that killed more than 400 flamingos are finally going to be taken underground. The Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO) has ordered a survey to mark areas in Khadir in Kutch where the lines will go underground. This is the same area where over 400 winged visitors had died after coming into contact with high-tension cables.
After The Times of India reported how the greater flamingos were electrocuted in the last week of November, principal secretary, forest and environment, S K Nanda asked GETCO to immediately take up a proposal for moving the cables underground or replacing the open high-tension wires with insulated wires. The company will have to complete the work before September 2012.
Surinderkumar Negi, the managing director of GETCO, said "After the incident, the department decided to take the power cables underground for nearly eight kilometer area."
Officials of the forest department said that during a meeting held on Saturday last with non-government organizations (NGOs) and GETCO officials, the proposal to move all power lines underground in Khadir was mooted. The officials said that an assurance was also given in the meeting that the efforts should be made to complete the work before the birds begin to arrive in Khadir region in September 2012.
Negi added that the department has begun the survey for the purpose. The survey will decide the actual area from where the lines will have to go underground. Negi said that the cost of laying the underground cables is likely to be approximately Rs 1 crore. The area which plays host to the winged visitors is 7.8 km. He said the underground lines cannot go below the temporary lake in Khadir that draws flamingos. "We will run the cables along the road," said Negi.
Officials said that no such incidents have been reported ever since cellophane papers and reflectors were stuck on the overhead cables. The birds have now moved away from the high-tension wires. "Number of birds in Khadir has gone down drastically since the birds are shifting from the high-tension wire with the water receding in the lake. The flamingos are now headed for the nearby Flamingo City in Kutch which is their last destination," said a forest official.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-12-20/ahmedabad/30537424_1_high-tension-wires-killer-wires-khadir-region