Lok Sabha Question No. 3244 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-06
Subject: Low Rainfall
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: HARI NARAYAN RAJBHAR

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3244 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2016

## Low Rainfall

## 3244.   SHRI HARINARAYAN RAJBHAR:

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

- (a) whether less forest cover is one of the reason for low rainfall in the country;
- (b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (c) the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b)     No, Sir. Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, a subordinate organization under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has been carrying out the assessment of forest cover  of  the  country  biennially.  The  findings  of  the  assessment  are  published  in  India State of Forest Report. The latest report in the series is India State of Forest Report 2015. As  per  this  report,  the  total  forest  cover  of  the  country  is  7,  01,673  square  kilometers which is 21.34% of the total geographical area of the country. There is a net increase of 3775 square kilometers in the forest cover of the country as compared with India State of Forest  Report-2013.  The  detailed  list  showing  forest  cover  and  change  in  forest  cover States/UTs wise is given in Annexure.
- (c)      To further increase the forest cover in the country, afforestation programme is taken up under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes such as National Afforestation Programme (NAP),  Green  India  Mission  (GIM),  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),  Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)  which  from  2015-16  has  been  amalgamated  as  the  Watershed  Development Component  of  the  'Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)'  and  under Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Management  and  Planning  Authority  (CAMPA). National Afforestation Programme (NAP) of the Ministry of Environment & Forests is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for afforestation and tree plantation and eco-restoration of degraded forests and adjoining areas through people's participation in the country. The scheme  is  being  implemented  through  a  decentralized  mechanism  of  State  Forest Development  agency  (SFDA)  at  State  Level,  Forest  Development  agency  (FDA)  at Forest Division level and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at Village level.

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## Annexure

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3244 due for answer on 06.12.2016 regarding 'Low Rainfall'

## Change in Forest Cover in States/UTs as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR)- 2015 (Area in square Kilometers)

| States/UTs          | Geographical Area   | Total Forest Cover 2015   | Total Forest Cover 2013   |   Change in Forest Cover |   Change Percent |
|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh      | 1,60,204            | 24,424                    | 24,357                    |                    67    |             0.27 |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 83,743              | 67,248                    | 67321                     |                   -73    |            -0.11 |
| Assam               | 78,438              | 27,623                    | 27671                     |                   -48    |            -0.17 |
| Bihar               | 94,163              | 7,288                     | 7291                      |                    -3    |            -0.04 |
| Chhattisgarh        | 1,35,191            | 55,586                    | 55621                     |                   -35    |            -0.06 |
| Delhi               | 1,483               | 189                       | 180                       |                     9    |             4.75 |
| Goa                 | 3,702               | 2,224                     | 2219                      |                     5    |             0.22 |
| Gujarat             | 1,96,022            | 14,660                    | 14653                     |                     7    |             0.05 |
| Haryana             | 44,212              | 1,584                     | 1586                      |                    -2    |            -0.13 |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 55,673              | 14,696                    | 14683                     |                    13    |             0.09 |
| Jammu & Kashmir     | 2,22,236            | 22,988                    | 22538                     |                   450    |             1.96 |
| Jharkhand           | 79,714              | 23,478                    | 23473                     |                     5    |             0.02 |
| Karnataka           | 1,91,791            | 36,421                    | 36132                     |                   289    |             0.79 |
| Kerala              | 38,863              | 19,239                    | 17922                     |                  1317    |             6.85 |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 3,08,245            | 77,462                    | 77522                     |                   -60    |            -0.08 |
| Maharashtra         | 3,07,713            | 50,628                    | 50632                     |                    -4    |            -0.01 |
| Manipur             | 22,327              | 16,994                    | 16990                     |                     4    |             0.02 |
| Meghalaya           | 22,429              | 17,217                    | 17288                     |                   -71    |            -0.41 |
| Mizoram             | 21,081              | 18,748                    | 19054                     |                  -306    |            -1.63 |
| Nagaland            | 16,579              | 12,966                    | 13044                     |                   -78    |            -0.6  |
| Odisha              | 1,55,707            | 50,354                    | 50347                     |                     7    |             0.01 |
| Punjab              | 50,362              | 1,771                     | 1772                      |                    -1    |            -0.06 |
| Rajasthan           | 3,42,239            | 16,171                    | 16086                     |                    85    |             0.53 |
| Sikkim              | 7,096               | 3,357                     | 3358                      |                    -1    |            -0.03 |
| Tamil Nadu          | 1,30,058            | 26,345                    | 23844                     |                  2501    |             9.49 |
| Telangana           | 114,865             | 21,591                    | 21759                     |                  -168    |            -0.78 |
| Tripura             | 10,486              | 7,811                     | 7866                      |                   -55    |            -0.7  |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 2,40,928            | 14,461                    | 14349                     |                   112    |             0.77 |
| Uttarakhand         | 53,483              | 24,240                    | 24508                     |                  -268    |            -1.11 |
| West Bengal         | 88,752              | 16,828                    | 16805                     |                    23    |             0.14 |
| A&N Islands         | 8,249               | 6,751                     | 6711                      |                    40    |             0.59 |
| Chandigarh          | 114                 | 22,.03                    | 17.26                     |                     4.77 |            21.65 |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491                 | 206                       | 213                       |                    -7    |            -3.4  |
| Daman &Diu          | 112                 | 19.61                     | 9                         |                    10.61 |            52.73 |
| Lakshadweep         | 32                  | 27.06                     | 27.06                     |                     0    |             0    |
| Puducherry Grand    | 480                 | 55.38                     | 50.06                     |                     5.32 |             9.61 |
| Total               | 32,87,263           | 701,673                   | 697898                    |                  3775    |             0.54 |