Lok Sabha Question No. 1583 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-25
Subject: Villages in Forest Areas
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: LAKHAN LAL SAHU

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1583

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2017

## Villages in Forest Areas

## 1583. SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU:

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

- (a) the  number of villages located in the reserved forests in the  country, State/UTwise;
- (b) whether the Government has chalked out any scheme to relocate these      villages out-side the reserved forests and if so, the details of the scheme;
- (c) the number of villages relocated from reserved forest areas so far, in the country, State/UT-wise;
- (d) whether any proposal has been received from State Government of Chhattisgarh for the said purpose and if so, the details in this regard; and
- (e) the reasons for not according sanction to the said proposal so far?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

- (a) The  villages  in  forest  areas  may  include  forest  villages,  old  habitations,  unsurveyed villages and other villages in the forests, whether recorded, notified or not into revenue villages. However, as per information available in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the State-wise details of the forest villages in the country is given at Annexure-I .
- (b)&(c)  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  is  implementing  the  Centrally Sponsored  Schemes  of  'Integrated  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats'  and  'Project Tiger' under which funds are provided to States/UTs for relocation and rehabilitation of forest villages. The number of villages relocated outside is given in the Annexure-II .
- (d)&(e) A proposal pertaining to village relocation from the State Government of Chhattisgarh for Achanakmar Tiger Reserve was received and the same has been returned to the State for certain clarifications.

***

## Annexure-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1583  DUE  FOR  ANSWER  ON  25.07.2017  ASKED  BY  SHRI  LAKHAN LAL SAHU REGARDING VILLAGES IN FOREST AREAS

Statement showing total No. of forest villages in various states

| S.N.   | States         | Total No. of Villages   |
|--------|----------------|-------------------------|
| 1      | Assam          | 499                     |
| 2      | Chhattisgarh   | 425                     |
| 3      | Gujarat        | 199                     |
| 4      | Jharkhand      | 24                      |
| 5      | Madhya Pradesh | 893                     |
| 6      | Meghalaya      | 23                      |
| 7      | Mizoram        | 85                      |
| 8      | Odisha         | 20                      |
| 9      | Tripura        | 62                      |
| 10     | Uttarakhand    | 61                      |
| 11     | Uttar Pradesh  | 13                      |
| 12     | West Bengal    | 170                     |
| Total  | Total          | 2,474                   |

## Annexure-II

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  &(c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1583 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 25.07.2017 ASKED BY SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU REGARDING VILLAGES IN FOREST AREAS

Villages relocated outside core/critical tiger habitats of Tiger Reserves & Wildlife Sanctuaries

| S.N.   | States         | Name of the Tiger Reserve/ Wildlife Sanctuary/   |   Number of villages relocated |
|--------|----------------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1      | Chhattisgarh   | Achanakmar                                       |                              6 |
| 2      | Karnataka      | Bhadra                                           |                             10 |
| 3      | Karnataka      | Nagarhole                                        |                              6 |
| 4      | Kerala         | Wayanad Sanctuary                                |                              4 |
| 5      | Madhya Pradesh | Bandhavgarh                                      |                              2 |
| 6      | Madhya Pradesh | Kanha                                            |                             34 |
| 7      | Madhya Pradesh | Panna                                            |                             13 |
| 8      | Madhya Pradesh | Satpura                                          |                             30 |
| 9      | Maharashtra    | Melghat                                          |                             10 |
| 10     | Maharashtra    | Sahayadri                                        |                             49 |
| 11     | Maharashtra    | Tadoba-Andhari                                   |                              2 |
| 12     | Mizoram        | Dampa                                            |                              1 |
| 13     | Mizoram        | Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary                  |                              3 |
| 14     | Odisha         | Similipal                                        |                              3 |
| 15     | Rajasthan      | Ranthambhore                                     |                              3 |
| 16     | Rajasthan      | Sariska                                          |                              3 |
| 17     | Tamil Nadu     | Mudumalai                                        |                              1 |
| Total  | Total          |                                                  |                            180 |