Lok Sabha Question No. 1939 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-14
Subject: Diversion of Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: RAGHAV LAKHANPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1939

TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2017

## Diversion of Forest Land

## 1939. SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to State:

- (a)   whether a large area of forest land has been diverted for mining purposes  resulting in ecological imbalance in the country;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof during the last two years and the current year, State/UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh; and
- (c)   the steps taken by the Government to stop diversion of forest land   for  ining  purposes in the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

- (a)  &(b)  No, Sir. The forest land diverted has not caused ecological imbalance. Since the enactment of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the forest land is diverted for non-forest use including mining purposes. The forest land diverted during the last two years  and the current year  in the  State/UTs including Uttar Pradesh is given in Annexure -A
- (c) The Government has taken the following steps to curb diversion of forest land for mining purposes and restore ecological balance in the forest areas of the country:
1. Use  of  forest  land  for  non-forest  purposes,  including  mining  purposes  requires prior approval of Central Government under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. To  facilitate  scrutiny  of  the  proposals  seeking  prior  permission  of  the  Central Government under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 in an effective, efficient and transparent manner an elaborate institutional mechanism, both at the Central as well as State/ Union Territory Governments level has been set up.
2. The  Central  Government having  due  regard  to  all  or  any  of  the  following matters accords approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for mining or reject the same:
- i. Whether  the  forest  land  proposed  to  be  used  for  non-forest  purpose  forms part of a nature reserve, national park, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve
- or forms part of the habitat of any endangered or  threatened species of flora and fauna or of an area lying in severely eroded catchment;
- ii. Whether the State Government or the other authority has certified that it has considered  all other alternatives and  that no  other alternatives in the circumstances are feasible and that the required area is the minimum needed for the purpose; and
- iii. Whether the State Government or the other authority undertakes to provide at its  cost  for  the  acquisition  of  land  of  an  equivalent  non  forest  area  and afforestation thereof.
3. Central  Government  while  according  approval  under  the  Forest  (Conservation) Act,  1980  stipulates  appropriate  mitigative  measures,  such  as,  creation  and maintenance  of  compensatory  afforestation,  realization  of  Net  Present  Value  of the diverted forest land, implementation of wildlife conservation plan (wherever required),  phased  reclamation  of  mined  out  area,  demarcation  of    boundary  of mining lease etc. A copy of the approval accorded by the Central Government is uploaded on website of the Ministry to place it in public domain.
4. In case a proposal involves diversion of forest land located within a protected area notified in accordance with the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, approval of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) and  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  is  required  to  be  obtained  by  the  concerned  user agency  before  grant  of  approval  under  the  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980. Similarly, in case the forestland proposed for diversion is located within the duly notified  eco-sensitive  zone  around  boundary  of  a  protected  area,  EIA  of  the project needs to be placed before the Standing Committee of NBWL. In case Ecosensitive zone has not been notified, 10 km distance from the boundary of such protected area shall be treated as eco-sensitive zone. The Standing Committee of NBWL stipulates  additional  safeguard  to  minimize  impacts  of  such  projects  on wildlife.
5. Adequate safeguards are already in place to ensure that approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for diversion of forest land for mining are accorded only after ascertaining that the area of forest land to be diverted is bare minimum and its diversion for non-forest purpose/Mining is unavoidable.

Further  in  addition  to  the  above,  the  regular  monitoring  of  the  forest  areas, after approval by the Central Government under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for  carrying  out  mining  activities,  is  conducted  by  the  State  Governments  and concerned  Regional  Office  of  the  Ministry  to  ensure  that  no  violations  occur  and conditions mandated in the approval are complied with. Besides this, user agencies are also  required  to  submit  the  annual  self-compliance  of  conditions  stipulated  in  the approvals accorded by the Central Government. The compensatory afforestation works are also monitored through regular inspections, quarterly progress reports, third party monitoring and e-green watch programme launched under the supervision of the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun.

*****

- ANNEXURE-A

| Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   | Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   | Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   | Statement Showing Total Area Diverted (State Wise) for Forest Land Under FC ACT, 1980   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Category : All Categories                                                               | Category : All Categories                                                               | During the Period : 01/01/2015 to 08/03/2017                                            | During the Period : 01/01/2015 to 08/03/2017                                            |
|                                                                                         |                                                                                         | Approved                                                                                | Approved                                                                                |
| S. No.                                                                                  | STATE / UT                                                                              | No. of Cases                                                                            | Total Land Diverted (Ha.)                                                               |
| 1                                                                                       | Andaman and Nicobar                                                                     | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 2                                                                                       | Andhra Pradesh                                                                          | 6                                                                                       | 1234.54                                                                                 |
| 3                                                                                       | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                       | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 4                                                                                       | Assam                                                                                   | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 5                                                                                       | Bihar                                                                                   | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 6                                                                                       | Chandigarh                                                                              | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 7                                                                                       | Chhattisgarh                                                                            | 9                                                                                       | 1583.04                                                                                 |
| 8                                                                                       | Dadar &Nagar Haveli                                                                     | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 9                                                                                       | Daman and Diu                                                                           | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 10                                                                                      | Delhi                                                                                   | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 11                                                                                      | Goa                                                                                     | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 12                                                                                      | Gujarat                                                                                 | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 13                                                                                      | Haryana                                                                                 | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 14                                                                                      | Himachal Pradesh                                                                        | 1                                                                                       | 84.36                                                                                   |
| 15                                                                                      | Jammu and Kashmir                                                                       | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 16                                                                                      | Jharkhand                                                                               | 4                                                                                       | 314.16                                                                                  |
| 17                                                                                      | Karnataka                                                                               | 4                                                                                       | 147.65                                                                                  |
| 18                                                                                      | Kerala                                                                                  | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 19                                                                                      | Lakshadweep                                                                             | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 20                                                                                      | Madhya Pradesh                                                                          | 9                                                                                       | 322.21                                                                                  |
| 21                                                                                      | Maharashtra                                                                             | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 22                                                                                      | Manipur                                                                                 | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 23                                                                                      | Meghalaya                                                                               | 2                                                                                       | 142.93                                                                                  |
| 24                                                                                      | Mizoram                                                                                 | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 25                                                                                      | Nagaland                                                                                | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 26                                                                                      | Orissa                                                                                  | 12                                                                                      | 1326.57                                                                                 |
| 27                                                                                      | Pondicherry                                                                             | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 28                                                                                      | Punjab                                                                                  | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 29                                                                                      | Rajasthan                                                                               | 1                                                                                       | 114.94                                                                                  |
| 30                                                                                      | Sikkim                                                                                  | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 31                                                                                      | Tamil Nadu                                                                              | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 32                                                                                      | Telangana                                                                               | 2                                                                                       | 487.08                                                                                  |
| 33                                                                                      | Tripura                                                                                 | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 34                                                                                      | Uttar Pradesh                                                                           | 0                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                    |
| 35                                                                                      | Uttarakhand                                                                             | 1                                                                                       | 35.36                                                                                   |
| 36                                                                                      | West Bengal                                                                             | 2                                                                                       | 168.30                                                                                  |
|                                                                                         | Total                                                                                   | 53                                                                                      | 5961.14                                                                                 |