Archive · 11 Sep 2026
Custom-Designed Bird Guards End Power Failures, Protect Vindhya Wildlife
Birds often sit and build nests on tall electricity towers.
Their droppings can make electrical equipment unsafe, especially during rain or humid weather.
This can cause power lines to stop working.
In Madhya Pradesh, the power company has added special guards and covers to the towers.
The guards make it harder for birds to perch in dangerous places.
The covers stop droppings from landing on important electrical parts.
Officials say bird-related power failures have now become almost zero in the area.
The changes are also meant to protect local and migratory birds.
Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company has installed bird guards and excreta preventers on transmission towers in the Vindhya region.
The devices are being used along 132 kV and 220 kV lines in Rewa, Satna, Panna, Sidhi and Singrauli districts.
Bird-related transmission-line tripping in the Rewa region has fallen from about 20 incidents in 2025-26 to almost zero after the measures were introduced.
A total of 210 guards and 50 preventers have been installed on 470 towers serving five 220 kV lines.
The equipment is intended to prevent outages while reducing bird injuries and deaths near power lines.
- Who
- The Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company, Energy Minister Pradyuman Singh Tomar and local transmission officials.
- What
- Custom-designed bird guards, flight diverters and bird excreta preventers are being installed to reduce bird-related power failures and protect wildlife.
- When
- The measures followed about 20 bird-related trippings recorded in the Rewa region during 2025-26; installations are continuing in phases.
- Where
- Transmission lines and towers in Madhya Pradesh’s Vindhya region, including Rewa, Satna, Panna, Sidhi and Singrauli districts.
- Why
- Birds use towers for nesting and perching, while droppings on insulators can cause flashovers and line tripping, particularly during rain or high humidity.
- 220 kV installations
- 210 bird guards and 50 excreta preventers have been installed on 470 towers across five lines totaling 133.68 km.
- 132 kV installations
- 1,600 guards and 150 preventers are being installed on 1,530 towers across 15 lines totaling 440 km.
- Reported trippings
- About 20 bird-related trippings were recorded in the Rewa region during 2025-26.
- Reported result
- Bird-induced tripping has been reduced to almost zero since the devices were introduced.
- Equipment function
- Bird guards discourage perching and nesting, while excreta preventers stop droppings from accumulating on disc insulators.
- Wildlife areas
- The installations cover bird-sensitive areas near reservoirs, river basins, forests and other water bodies.