Developers assure no threat as wind turbines automatically shut down

By Ifham Nizam

The proposed Mannar wind power plant poses a threat to the lives of pelicans as the project is situated along the birds’ migration route from India to Sri Lanka, Hemantha Withanage, Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Justice (CEJ), said.

With around 10% of pelicans dying annually, the wind power plant, scheduled to be operational soon, poses a potential threat to these birds, he cautioned. “The project’s Environmental Impact Assessment reports have also sounded a warning on this score”.

He said CEJ and several other environmentalists raised objections to the danger posed to the birds by the wind power project. However, the developers assured that all wind turbines automatically shut down when a flock of birds pass by the radar signals located on Adam’s Bridge. An actual bird watching radar system has now been included in the design of the Mannar wind power generation project to minimize bird collisions.

The Department of Wildlife Conservation has released details on 435 bird species, including 110 migratory species. These birds, during the migration period from November to February, fly across to Sri Lanka on three major routes via the Eastern, Western and Andaman Islands.

Bundala National Park, Anavilundawa Sanctuary, Bellanwila – Attidiya Sanctuary and the Muthurajawela Sanctuary are habitats for migratory birds. Bundala National Park and Anavilundawa Sanctuary are Ramsar sites.

Withanage urged conservationists to educate the people on bird conservation and commemorate the value of migratory birds in countries, cities and villages around the world, as well as to understand this biodiversity by observing as many birds as possible and take necessary steps towards conservation.

The theme of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day is ‘Birds Connect Our World’. It has been chosen to highlight the importance of preserving and restoring the integrity of environmental relationships and systems. Migratory birds are part of our natural heritage and depend on a network of sites for their breeding, feeding, resting and feeding routes.

Amy Frankel, executive secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals – CMS said: “World Migratory Bird Day – October 10- reminds us that now more than ever, that we need to speed up our efforts to protect migratory birds and their habitats. Many bird species around the world are declining and the continuing extinction of nature is linked to the infectious diseases we are now fighting.”

Last year alone, more than 870 migratory bird events were registered. Compared to the past, the global celebration of the victims of our bird menace, and their impressive annual migration, will look even different this year due to the global health crisis the world is facing due to COVID-19, he noted.

Years back, Sri Lanka’s foremost authority on biodiversity, Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda questioned a poorly researched Initial Environment Examination Report (IEER) saying it poses a threat to the Vankalai Sanctuary near Mannar.

During an interview with the writer a few years back, the biodiversity expert stressed “I maintain that the proposed trace of the transmission line through or near Vankalai Sanctuary should not be allowed.”

According to him, it is illegal under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) and there is no provision for the Wildlife Conservation Department to sanction it.

Furthermore, it negatively impacts tourism, especially nature-tourism, which has potential in this region, which is urgently in need of economic development and the full utilization of all its natural resources for the benefit of the local people, he noted.

The IEER provides almost no evidence that the unique natural heritage offered by the Vankalai Sanctuary will be preserved as a result of the project, especially with regard to bird life with the proposed transmission line, he said.

Every year millions of birds fly down the Indian peninsula and then funnel through the four km wide Talaimannar panhandle to reach food-rich wetlands such as Vidattaltivu and Vankalai on Sri Lanka’s north-west coast.