Black necked crane
Q. Recently the NGT halted the Tawang hydro power project clearance for citing the reason of habitat protection of which of the following?- Published on 27 Apr 16a. Black-necked crane
b. Lion Tailed macaques
c. One horned Rhinoceros
d. Black bucks
ANSWER: Black-necked crane
- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has suspended the Union Environment Ministry’s clearance for the Tawang hydro power project granted in 2012.
- The clearance, the court noted, didn’t consider the impact of the hydro project on the habitat of the black-necked crane, a species that breeds on the Tibetan plateau and migrates to Tawang for the winter. The bird, most commonly found in China, is legally protected in Bhutan and India and is considered sacred to certain Buddhist traditions.
- The black-necked crane is rated as ‘vulnerable’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list of endangered species and is listed in India’s Wildlife Act as a Schedule 1 species, which gives animals and birds the highest legal protection.
- Other species that are found in the region include the red panda, the snow leopard and the Arunachal macaque Macaca munzala, a recently-described primate species in the area.
- The project is planned on the Nyamjang Chhu river and is the largest of 13 hydro power projects to be built in the Tawang basin. With the NGT’s order, project developers will need to revisit their environmental clearance process.
