Lok Sabha Question No. 3095 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-21
Subject: Encroachment of Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3095

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2017

## Encroachment of Forest Land

## 3095.  SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE :

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

- (a) the  total  area  of  forest  land  in  the  country  along  with  the  details  of  the  forest  land occupied by tribals/forest dwellers and non-tribal people for livelihood, State/ UT-wise;
- (b) whether complaints have been received by the Union Government regarding encroachment  of  forest  land  by  outsiders  for  constructing  farm  houses  and  Dhabas  in Maharashtra and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government thereon;
- (c) the penal provisions under the Indian Forest Act for encroachment of reserved forest land; and
- (d) the details of the action taken along with the number of persons against whom action has been taken under these provisions in Maharashtra during the last three years?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The  State  /  UT  wise  details  of  recorded  forest  areas  as  per  India  State  of  Forest Report, 2015 of  the Forest Survey of India, Dehradun is given at Annexure-I. The details  of  the  forest  land  occupied  by  tribals/forest  dwellers  and  non-tribal  people for livelihood, are not maintained at the Ministry level.

As per information received from Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, a total of 136,12,921.16 acres of forest land has been distributed under the Scheduled Tribes  and  other  Traditional  Forest  Dwellers  (Recognition  of  Forest  Rights)  Act, 2006 as on  31.01.2017. The State/UT wise details are given at Annexure-II.

- (b) The  Ministry  has  not  received  any  specific  complaint  regarding  encroachment  of forest land by outsiders for constructing farm houses and Dhabas in Maharashtra.
- (c) As  per  the  provisions  of  Section  63(c)  of  the  Indian  Forest  Act,1927  the  penal provision for encroachment of reserved forest land is as under:

'whoever, with intent to cause damage or injury to the public or to any person, or to cause wrongful gain as defined in the Indian Penal Code, alters, moves, destroys or defaces any boundary-mark of any forest or wasteland to which the provisions of this Act are applied, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or fine, or with both.'

- (d) The information received from State of Maharashtra regarding action taken against encroachment in forest area is at Annexure - III.

******

## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE  REFFERED  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  3095  DUE  FOR  21.03.2017  REGARDING  ENCROACHMENT  OF FOREST LAND ASKED BY SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE

|   S.No. | State/UTs                   |   Total Recorded Forest Area 2015 (sq. km) |   Percent of Geographical Area |
|---------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|       1 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |                                       7171 |                          86.93 |
|       2 | Andhra Pradesh              |                                      37258 |                          13.54 |
|       3 | Arunachal Pradesh           |                                      51407 |                          61.39 |
|       4 | Assam                       |                                      26832 |                          34.21 |
|       5 | Bihar                       |                                       6493 |                           6.9  |
|       6 | Chandigarh                  |                                         35 |                          30.7  |
|       7 | Chhattisgarh                |                                      59772 |                          44.21 |
|       8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli      |                                        204 |                          41.55 |
|       9 | Daman and Diu               |                                          8 |                           7.14 |
|      10 | Delhi                       |                                        102 |                           6.88 |
|      11 | Goa                         |                                       1225 |                          33.09 |
|      12 | Gujarat                     |                                      21647 |                          11.04 |
|      13 | Haryana                     |                                       1559 |                           3.53 |
|      14 | Himachal Pradesh            |                                      37033 |                          66.52 |
|      15 | Jammu and Kashmir           |                                      20230 |                           9.1  |
|      16 | Jharkhand                   |                                      23605 |                          29.61 |
|      17 | Karnataka                   |                                      38284 |                          19.96 |
|      18 | Kerala                      |                                      11309 |                          29.1  |
|      19 | Lakshadweep                 |                                          0 |                           0    |
|      20 | Madhya Pradesh              |                                      94689 |                          30.72 |
|      21 | Maharashtra                 |                                      61579 |                          20.01 |
|      22 | Manipur                     |                                      17418 |                          78.01 |
|      23 | Meghalaya                   |                                       9496 |                          42.34 |
|      24 | Mizoram                     |                                       5641 |                          26.76 |
|      25 | Nagaland                    |                                       9222 |                          55.62 |
|      26 | Odisha                      |                                      58136 |                          37.34 |
|      27 | Puducherry                  |                                         13 |                           2.71 |
|      28 | Punjab                      |                                       3084 |                           6.12 |
|      29 | Rajasthan                   |                                      32737 |                           9.57 |
|      30 | Sikkim                      |                                       5841 |                          82.31 |
|      31 | Tamil Nadu                  |                                      22877 |                          17.59 |
|      32 | Tripura                     |                                       6294 |                          60.02 |
|      33 | Telangana                   |                                      26904 |                          23.42 |
|      34 | Uttar Pradesh               |                                      16582 |                           6.88 |
|      35 | Uttarakhand                 |                                      38000 |                          71.05 |
|      36 | West Bengal                 |                                      11879 |                          13.38 |

## ANNEXURE-III

## ANNEXURE  REFFERED TO PART (d) OF THE LOK SBHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3095 DUE FOR 21.03.2017 REGARDING ENCROACHMENT OF FOREST LAND ASKED BY SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE

| year    | Area under encroachment at the beginning of the year   | Area under encroachment at the beginning of the year   | Encroachment made during the year   | Encroachment made during the year   | Total encroachment   | Total encroachment   | Encroachment removed during the year   | Encroachment removed during the year   | Encroachment balance at the end of the year   | Encroachment balance at the end of the year   |
|---------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|         | No. of cases                                           | Area in Ha.                                            | No. of cases                        | Area in Ha.                         | No. of cases         | Area in Ha.          | No. of cases                           | Area in Ha.                            | No. of cases                                  | Area in Ha.                                   |
| 1       | 2                                                      | 3                                                      | 4                                   | 5                                   | 6                    | 7                    | 8                                      | 9                                      | 10                                            | 11                                            |
| 2005-06 | 40345                                                  | 79671                                                  | 1880                                | 1700                                | 42225                | 81371                | 736                                    | 1263                                   | 41489                                         | 80108                                         |
| 2006-07 | 117652                                                 | 78388                                                  | 1574                                | 1378                                | 119226               | 79766                | 1891                                   | 916                                    | 117335                                        | 78850                                         |
| 2007-08 | 116947                                                 | 78493                                                  | 1486                                | 2477                                | 118433               | 80970                | 797                                    | 763                                    | 117636                                        | 80207                                         |
| 2008-09 | 117918                                                 | 80234                                                  | 2979                                | 5589                                | 120897               | 85823                | 3062                                   | 5527                                   | 117835                                        | 80296                                         |
| 2009-10 | 117881                                                 | 80295                                                  | 3648                                | 6643                                | 121529               | 86938                | 1350                                   | 4705                                   | 120179                                        | 82233                                         |
| 2010-11 | 120179                                                 | 82233                                                  | 2231                                | 2554                                | 122410               | 84787                | 2922                                   | 3032                                   | 119488                                        | 81755                                         |
| 2011-12 | 123540                                                 | 84773                                                  | 1953                                | 3369                                | 125493               | 88142                | 1368                                   | 1929                                   | 124125                                        | 86213                                         |
| 2012-13 | 124125                                                 | 86212                                                  | 4293                                | 1614                                | 128418               | 87826                | 21945                                  | 17748                                  | 106473                                        | 70077                                         |
| 2013-14 | 106473                                                 | 70077                                                  | 25901                               | 5153                                | 132374               | 75232                | 14489                                  | 7342                                   | 117885                                        | 67890                                         |
| 2014-15 | 118036                                                 | 69005                                                  | 5770                                | 5160                                | 123806               | 74164                | 3767                                   | 2537                                   | 120039                                        | 71627                                         |