Lok Sabha Question No. 2262 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-29
Subject: Use of Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: MANSHANKAR NINAMA, Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh, BALABHADRA MAJHI

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2262 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2016

## Use of Forest Land

## 2262. SHRI MANSHANKAR NINAMA: SHRIMATI PRATYUSHA RAJESHWARI SINGH: SHRI BALABHADRA MAJHI:

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

- (a) whether prior permission of the Government is necessary for the use of forest land for development projects both in rural and urban areas;
- (b) if  so,  the  details thereof and the number of such proposals received in respect of rural and  urban  areas  by  the  Government  during  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year, State-wise;
- (c) the number of proposals approved/ sanctioned and those rejected or pending, rural/urban area and State-wise; and
- (d) the time by which the pending, proposals are likely to be cleared?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

- (a) Yes. The use of forest land for non forest purposes requires prior approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
- (b) & c) The  proposals  are  not  segregated  into  those  from  rural  and  urban  areas.  The details  of  proposals  for  forest  clearances  received,  approved/  sanctioned  and those rejected  or  pending  State  /UT  wise  for  the  last  three  years  and  current year are placed as Annexure A
- d) All duly complete proposals for Forest Clearance received from the States/UTs are  considered  expeditiously  and  in  a  time  bound  manner  by  the  Ministry.  A number  of initiatives have been taken by the Ministry to streamline the process including receipt of all proposals through online portal since July 2014, deposit of compensatory levies to Ad hoc CAMPA through e-portal etc.

********

| Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2013-2014   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2013-2014   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2013-2014   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2013-2014   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2013-2014   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2013-2014   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2013-2014   |
|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| S. No                                        | State                                        | Sanctioned                                   | Approved/ In-Principle                       | Pending                                      | Close/ Returned/ Rejected/ Withdrawn         | Grand Total                                  |
| Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2014-2015   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2014-2015   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2014-2015   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2014-2015   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2014-2015   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2014-2015   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 2014-2015   |

| 1   | Andaman and Nicobar   |   6 |   2 |   0 |   0 |   8 |
|-----|-----------------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
| 2   | Andhra Pradesh        |   2 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   3 |
| 3   | Arunachal Pradesh     |   4 |  11 |   2 |   1 |  18 |
| 4   | Bihar                 |  12 |  12 |   2 |   0 |  26 |
| 5   | Chandigarh            |   2 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   2 |
| 6   | Chhattisgarh          |   4 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   5 |
| 7   | Delhi                 |   3 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   4 |
| 8   | Goa                   |   0 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   1 |
| 9   | Gujarat               |   3 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   4 |
| 10  | Haryana               | 240 |  30 |   2 |   2 | 274 |
| 11  | Himachal Pradesh      |   7 |  12 |  17 |   0 |  36 |
| 12  | Jharkhand             |   2 |   3 |   0 |   0 |   5 |
| 13  | Karnataka             |   2 |   2 |   0 |   0 |   4 |
| 14  | Madhya Pradesh        |  14 |   2 |   1 |   2 |  19 |
| 15  | Maharashtra           |   4 |   7 |   5 |   0 |  16 |
| 16  | Manipur               |   2 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   3 |
| 17  | Meghalaya             |   1 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |
| 18  | Mizoram               |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   1 |
| 19  | Orissa                |  17 |   5 |   0 |   0 |  22 |
| 20  | Punjab                | 146 |  33 |   1 |   0 | 180 |
| 21  | Rajasthan             |   2 |   8 |   1 |   0 |  11 |
| 22  | Sikkim                |   2 |   1 |   2 |   0 |   5 |
| 23  | Tamil Nadu            |   2 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   3 |
| 24  | Telangana             |   1 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |
| 25  | Tripura               |   3 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   4 |
| 26  | Uttar Pradesh         |  10 |  38 |   3 |   1 |  52 |
| 27  | Uttarakhand           |   4 |  19 |  16 |   0 |  39 |
| 28  | West Bengal           |   2 |   3 |   0 |   0 |   5 |
|     | Grand Total           | 497 | 194 |  54 |   7 | 752 |

| S. No   | State               |   Sanctioned |   Approved/ In-Principle |   Pending |   Close/ Returned/ Rejected/ Withdrawn |   Grand Total |
|---------|---------------------|--------------|--------------------------|-----------|----------------------------------------|---------------|
| 1       | Andaman and Nicobar |            1 |                        0 |         0 |                                      0 |             1 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh      |            1 |                        4 |         2 |                                      0 |             7 |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh   |            3 |                        5 |         9 |                                      7 |            24 |
| 4       | Bihar               |            9 |                        9 |         2 |                                      0 |            20 |
| 5       | Chandigarh          |            1 |                        0 |         0 |                                      0 |             1 |
| 6       | Chhattisgarh        |            4 |                        3 |         4 |                                      0 |            11 |
| 7       | Delhi               |            0 |                        1 |         0 |                                      0 |             1 |
| 8       | Goa                 |            0 |                        2 |         0 |                                      0 |             2 |
| 9       | Gujarat             |           16 |                       29 |         2 |                                      0 |            47 |
| 10      | Haryana             |          195 |                       39 |         3 |                                      0 |           237 |
| 11      | Himachal Pradesh    |            3 |                       19 |        71 |                                      0 |            93 |
| 12      | Jharkhand           |            1 |                        1 |         0 |                                      0 |             2 |
| 13      | Karnataka           |            5 |                       11 |         5 |                                      1 |            22 |
| 14      | Madhya Pradesh      |           36 |                        9 |         4 |                                      0 |            49 |
| 15      | Maharashtra         |            3 |                       24 |         3 |                                      0 |            30 |
| 16      | Manipur             |            0 |                        2 |         1 |                                      0 |             3 |
| 17      | Mizoram             |            0 |                        3 |         1 |                                      0 |             4 |
| 18      | Orissa              |            6 |                        6 |         2 |                                      0 |            14 |
| 19      | Punjab              |          101 |                       48 |         1 |                                      0 |           150 |
| 20      | Rajasthan           |            6 |                        4 |        19 |                                      0 |            29 |
| 21      | Tamil Nadu          |            2 |                        0 |         0 |                                      0 |             2 |
| 22      | Telangana           |            0 |                        1 |         0 |                                      1 |             2 |
| 23      | Tripura             |            1 |                        1 |         1 |                                      0 |             3 |
| 24      | Uttar Pradesh       |            4 |                       51 |        42 |                                      1 |            98 |
| 25      | Uttarakhand         |            2 |                       18 |        16 |                                      0 |            36 |
| 26      | West Bengal         |            1 |                        2 |         2 |                                      0 |             5 |
|         | Grand Total         |          401 |                      292 |       190 |                                     10 |           893 |

| S. No   | State             |   Sanctioned |   Approved/ In-Principle |   Pending |   Close/ Returned/ Rejected/ Withdrawn |   Grand Total |
|---------|-------------------|--------------|--------------------------|-----------|----------------------------------------|---------------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    |            1 |                       20 |         2 |                                      0 |            23 |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh |            0 |                        1 |        16 |                                      0 |            17 |
| 3       | Assam             |            0 |                        1 |         0 |                                      0 |             1 |
| 4       | Bihar             |            5 |                        7 |         3 |                                      0 |            15 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh      |            1 |                        9 |         8 |                                      0 |            18 |
| 6       | Delhi             |            0 |                        0 |         2 |                                      0 |             2 |
| 7       | Goa               |            0 |                        2 |         0 |                                      0 |             2 |
| 8       | Gujarat           |           12 |                       38 |         6 |                                      4 |            60 |
| 9       | Haryana           |           84 |                      130 |        32 |                                      0 |           246 |
| 10      | Himachal Pradesh  |            9 |                       37 |        30 |                                      0 |            76 |
| 11      | Jharkhand         |            3 |                        8 |         1 |                                      0 |            12 |
| 12      | Karnataka         |            6 |                        9 |         5 |                                      2 |            22 |
| 13      | Kerala            |            0 |                        0 |         1 |                                      0 |             1 |
| 14      | Madhya Pradesh    |            6 |                       16 |         2 |                                      0 |            24 |
| 15      | Maharashtra       |            0 |                       23 |        18 |                                      0 |            41 |
| 16      | Manipur           |            0 |                        4 |         0 |                                      0 |             4 |
| 17      | Meghalaya         |            0 |                        2 |         2 |                                      0 |             4 |
| 18      | Orissa            |            2 |                       16 |         2 |                                      0 |            20 |
| 19      | Punjab            |           57 |                      150 |         8 |                                      0 |           215 |
| 20      | Rajasthan         |            7 |                       32 |         7 |                                      0 |            46 |
| 21      | Sikkim            |            2 |                        5 |         1 |                                      0 |             8 |
| 22      | Tamil Nadu        |            1 |                        2 |         0 |                                      1 |             4 |
| 23      | Telangana         |            2 |                        9 |         0 |                                      0 |            11 |
| 24      | Tripura           |            0 |                        2 |         0 |                                      0 |             2 |
| 25      | Uttar Pradesh     |            0 |                      101 |        18 |                                      1 |           120 |
| 26      | Uttarakhand       |           21 |                      245 |        41 |                                      1 |           308 |
| 27      | West Bengal       |            0 |                        3 |         1 |                                      0 |             4 |
|         | Grand Total       |          219 |                      872 |       206 |                                      9 |          1306 |

| Proposals for Forest Clearance : 01.01.2016-Till Date   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 01.01.2016-Till Date   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 01.01.2016-Till Date   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 01.01.2016-Till Date   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 01.01.2016-Till Date   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 01.01.2016-Till Date   | Proposals for Forest Clearance : 01.01.2016-Till Date   |
|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No                                                   | State                                                   | Sanctioned                                              | Approved/ In-Principle                                  | Pending                                                 | Close/ Returned/ Rejected/ Withdrawn                    | Grand Total                                             |
| 1                                                       | Andhra Pradesh                                          |                                                         | 11                                                      | 13                                                      | 1                                                       | 25                                                      |
| 2                                                       | Assam                                                   |                                                         | 1                                                       | 3                                                       |                                                         | 4                                                       |
| 3                                                       | Bihar                                                   | 1                                                       | 12                                                      | 6                                                       |                                                         | 19                                                      |
| 4                                                       | Chandigarh                                              | 1                                                       |                                                         |                                                         |                                                         | 1                                                       |
| 5                                                       | Chhattisgarh                                            |                                                         | 3                                                       | 12                                                      |                                                         | 15                                                      |
| 6                                                       | Delhi                                                   |                                                         | 1                                                       |                                                         |                                                         | 1                                                       |
| 7                                                       | Goa                                                     |                                                         | 1                                                       | 2                                                       |                                                         | 3                                                       |
| 8                                                       | Gujarat                                                 |                                                         | 19                                                      | 11                                                      |                                                         | 30                                                      |
| 9                                                       | Haryana                                                 | 81                                                      | 145                                                     | 110                                                     |                                                         | 336                                                     |
| 10                                                      | Himachal Pradesh                                        | 5                                                       | 19                                                      | 28                                                      |                                                         | 52                                                      |
| 11                                                      | Jharkhand                                               |                                                         | 8                                                       | 10                                                      |                                                         | 18                                                      |
| 12                                                      | Karnataka                                               |                                                         | 9                                                       | 8                                                       |                                                         | 17                                                      |
| 13                                                      | Kerala                                                  |                                                         | 1                                                       | 1                                                       | 1                                                       | 3                                                       |
| 14                                                      | Madhya Pradesh                                          |                                                         | 11                                                      | 19                                                      | 1                                                       | 31                                                      |
| 15                                                      | Maharashtra                                             |                                                         | 10                                                      | 28                                                      |                                                         | 38                                                      |
| 16                                                      | Manipur                                                 |                                                         | 5                                                       | 3                                                       |                                                         | 8                                                       |
| 17                                                      | Meghalaya                                               |                                                         | 2                                                       | 2                                                       |                                                         | 4                                                       |
| 18                                                      | Mizoram                                                 |                                                         |                                                         | 1                                                       |                                                         | 1                                                       |
| 19                                                      | Orissa                                                  |                                                         | 5                                                       | 4                                                       |                                                         | 9                                                       |
| 20                                                      | Punjab                                                  | 50                                                      | 104                                                     | 39                                                      |                                                         | 193                                                     |
| 21                                                      | Rajasthan                                               | 8                                                       | 9                                                       | 5                                                       |                                                         | 22                                                      |
| 22                                                      | Sikkim                                                  |                                                         | 12                                                      | 4                                                       |                                                         | 16                                                      |
| 23                                                      | Tamil Nadu                                              |                                                         | 3                                                       | 1                                                       |                                                         | 4                                                       |
| 24                                                      | Telangana                                               | 1                                                       | 22                                                      | 11                                                      |                                                         | 34                                                      |
| 25                                                      | Tripura                                                 | 1                                                       | 3                                                       | 2                                                       |                                                         | 6                                                       |
| 26                                                      | Uttar Pradesh                                           |                                                         | 82                                                      | 33                                                      |                                                         | 115                                                     |
| 27                                                      | Uttarakhand                                             | 7                                                       | 105                                                     | 32                                                      |                                                         | 144                                                     |
| 28                                                      | West Bengal                                             |                                                         | 2                                                       | 1                                                       |                                                         | 3                                                       |
|                                                         | Grand Total                                             | 155                                                     | 605                                                     | 389                                                     | 3                                                       | 1152                                                    |