Lok Sabha Question No. 5992 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-11
Subject: Reserve Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5992 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.04.2017

## Reserve Land

## 5992. SHRI SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL:

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

- (a) the different categories of reserved land in the country;
- (b)   the areas under the different categories of reserved land in the country, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the  reserved  land  areas  presently  occupied  by  illegal  encroachers  in  the  country, State/UT-wise;
- (d)   whether the Government has decided to evict these illegal encroachers out of the reserved land,  if  so,  the  progress  in  eviction  of  these  illegal  dwellers  across  the  country,  Statewise; and
- (e) whether the Government has any proposal to rehabilitate these illegal dwellers, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b) The subject 'Land' is under State List and the classification of different categories of Reserved Land as well as areas under the different categories of Reserve Land in the country  is  not  maintained  by  the  Ministry.  However,  India  State  of  Forest  Report published  by  Forest  Survey  of  India,  Dehradun  gives  detailed  information  about Recorded Forest Areas (RFA) classified into Reserved Forest (RF), Protected Forest (PF)  and  Unclassed  Forest.  The  State/UT  wise  details  as  per  India  State  of  Forest Report 2015 (ISFR 2015) are given in Annexure-I .
- (c) As  per  the  reports  received  from  State/UT  Governments,  the  details  of  forest  areas under encroachment are given in Annexure-II .
- (d)&(e) Protection and management of forests are primarily the responsibility of the concerned State/UT Government. Hence, the action to remove encroachment is taken as per the provisions of various acts such as Indian  Forest Act, 1927;  Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and various rules & regulations thereof. Further, there is no proposal with the Ministry to rehabilitate these illegal dwellers/encroachers.

***

## ANNEXURE-I

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) &(b)  OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  No.  5992  DUE  FOR  ANSWER  ON  11.04.2017  ASKED  BY SHRI SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL REGARDING RESERVE LAND

Recorded Forest area (RFA) as per ISFR 2015 reported by the States/UTs Forest Departments

| States/UTs        | Geographical Area (GA)   | RFA (as revised by SFDs)   | RFA (as revised by SFDs)   | RFA (as revised by SFDs)   | Total RFA   |
|-------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|-------------|
| States/UTs        | Geographical Area (GA)   | RF                         | PF                         | Unclassed Forests          | Total RFA   |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 160,204                  | 31,959                     | 5,069                      | 230                        | 37,258      |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 83,743                   | 10,589                     | 9,779                      | 31,039                     | 51,407      |
| Assam             | 78,438                   | 17,864                     | 0                          | 8,968                      | 26,832      |
| Bihar             | 94,163                   | 693                        | 5,799                      | 1                          | 6,493       |
| Chhattisgarh      | 135,191                  | 25,782                     | 24,036                     | 9,954                      | 59,772      |
| Delhi             | 1,483                    | 78                         | 24                         | 0                          | 102         |
| Goa               | 3,702                    | 253                        | 0                          | 972                        | 1,225       |
| Gujarat           | 196,022                  | 14,373                     | 2,886                      | 4,388                      | 21,647      |
| Haryana           | 44,212                   | 249                        | 1,158                      | 152                        | 1,559       |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 55,673                   | 1,898                      | 33,130                     | 2,005                      | 37,033      |
| Jammu & Kashmir   | 222,236                  | 17,643                     | 2,551                      | 36                         | 20,230      |
| Jharkhand         | 79,714                   | 4,387                      | 19,185                     | 33                         | 23,605      |
| Karnataka         | 191,791                  | 28,690                     | 3,931                      | 5,663                      | 38,284      |
| Kerala            | 38,863                   | 11,309                     | 0                          | 0                          | 11,309      |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 308,245                  | 61,886                     | 31,098                     | 1,705                      | 94,689      |
| Maharashtra       | 307,713                  | 49,546                     | 6,733                      | 5,300                      | 61,579      |
| Manipur           | 22,327                   | 1,467                      | 4,171                      | 11,780                     | 17,418      |
| Meghalaya         | 22,429                   | 1,113                      | 12                         | 8,371                      | 9,496       |
| Mizoram           | 21,081                   | 4,483                      | 0                          | 1,158                      | 5,641       |
| Nagaland          | 16,579                   | 86                         | 508                        | 8,628                      | 9,222       |
| Odisha            | 155,707                  | 26,329                     | 15,525                     | 16,282                     | 58,136      |

| Punjab              | 50,362    | 44      | 1,137   | 1,903   | 3,084   |
|---------------------|-----------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
| Rajasthan           | 342,239   | 12,475  | 18,217  | 2,045   | 32,737  |
| Sikkim              | 7,096     | 5,452   | 389     | 0       | 5,841   |
| Tamil Nadu          | 130,058   | 20,293  | 1,782   | 802     | 22,877  |
| Telangana           | 114,865   | 20,353  | 5,939   | 612     | 26,904  |
| Tripura             | 10,486    | 4,175   | 2       | 2,117   | 6,294   |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 240,928   | 12,071  | 1,157   | 3,354   | 16,582  |
| Uttarakhand         | 53,483    | 26,547  | 9,885   | 1,568   | 38,000  |
| West Bengal         | 88,752    | 7,054   | 3,772   | 1,053   | 11,879  |
| A &NIslands         | 8,249     | 5,613   | 1,558   | 0       | 7,171   |
| Chandigarh          | 114       | 32      | 0       | 3       | 35      |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491       | 199     | 5       | 0       | 204     |
| Daman &Diu          | 112       | 0       | 0       | 8       | 8       |
| Lakshadweep         | 32        | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Puducherry          | 480       | 0       | 2       | 11      | 13      |
| Total               | 3,287,263 | 424,985 | 209,440 | 130,141 | 764,566 |

***

## ANNEXURE-II

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  No.  5992  DUE  FOR  ANSWER  ON  11.04.2017  ASKED  BY SHRI SIRAJUDDIN AJMAL REGARDING RESERVE LAND

| S. No.   | Name of States/UTs   | Area of Encroachment (in ha.)   | As on Date   |
|----------|----------------------|---------------------------------|--------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh       | 1690.72                         | 31.03.2016   |
| 2        | Bihar                | 132.21                          | 31.03.2015   |
| 3        | Chhattisgarh         | 19330.64                        | 31.01.2016   |
| 4        | Gujarat              | 34791.00                        | 19.03.2011   |
| 5        | Goa                  | Nil                             | 25.02.2013   |
| 6        | Haryana              | 520.00                          | 31.03.2016   |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh     | 2339.02                         | 31.03.2016   |
| 8        | Jharkhand            | 27360.21                        | 31.07.2012   |
| 9        | Jammu & Kashmir      | 14345.02                        | 13.02.2014   |
| 10       | Karnataka            | 75826.76                        | 31.03.2016   |
| 11       | Kerala               | 56.43                           | 31.03.2016   |
| 12       | Madhya Pradesh       | 534717.28                       | 31.03.2016   |
| 13       | Maharashtra          | 67012.56                        | 31.03.2016   |
| 14       | Odisha               | 78505.08                        | 22.07.2011   |
| 15       | Punjab               | 6987.31                         | 31.03.2015   |
| 16       | Rajasthan            | 9003.91                         | 31.12.2015   |
| 17       | Tamil Nadu           | 15142.00                        | 16.07.2014   |
| 18       | Telangana            | 27775.64                        | 31.03.2016   |
| 19       | Uttar Pradesh        | 23869.50                        | 29.02.2016   |
| 20       | Uttarakhand          | 9619.80                         | 30.06.2016   |
| 21       | West Bengal          | 13779.49                        | 31.03.2015   |
| 22       | Arunachal Pradesh    | 58636.13                        | 31.03.2016   |
| 23       | Assam                | 317215.39                       | 17.03.2015   |
| 24       | Manipur              | 1356.80                         | 31.03.2016   |
| 25       | Meghalaya            | 9378.00                         | 12.03.2011   |
| 26       | Mizoram              | 9589.48                         | 31.03.2016   |
| 27       | Nagaland             | 8721.86                         | 26.07.2011   |
| 28       | Sikkim               | 2817.21                         | 31.03.2016   |
| 29       | Tripura              | 6.77                            | 08.08.2014   |
| 30       | A &NIslands          | 479.57                          | 31.03.2016   |
| 31       | Chandigarh           | 14.00                           | 31.03.2016   |
| 32       | D&N Haveli           | 614.40                          | 31.03.2013   |
| 33       | Daman &Diu           | 87.83                           | 28.09.2010   |
| 34       | Lakshadweep          | Nil                             | 28.08.2010   |
| 35       | Delhi                | 629.51                          | 11.04.2012   |
|          | TOTAL                | 1372351.53                      |              |