Lok Sabha Question No. 4460 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-20
Subject: Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Jasbir Singh Gill

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4460

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2020

## Forest Land

## 4460.  SHRI JASBIR SINGH GILL:

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

- (a) the total forest land in the country, State-wise;
- (b) the details of the forest land leased out by respective authorities to individuals/organizations/trusts/ companies/institutes for forest, allied or nonforest purposes; and
- (c) the  total  forest  land  under  unauthorized  occupation  or  illegal  occupation  of individuals/institutes/ organizations or companies, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO )

- (a) The State and UT- wise Recorded Forest Area as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR)  2019,  published  by  Forest  Survey  of  India,  Dehradun  are  given  in Annexure-I .
- (b) For assignment of lease over any forest area prior approval of Government of India is required under Section 2(iii) of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.The state-wise  details  of  forestareaapproved  in  favour  of  various  agencies  under Section 2(iii) of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 are given in Annexure-II.
- (c) The  primary  responsibility  of  protection  of  forests  from  various  threats including encroachment lies with the respective States and Union Territories (UTs).The respective State Governments and UT Administrations take action against  the  offenders,  as  per  extant  acts,  rules  and  regulations  made  there under. As per the information received from the States and UTs, approximately  14.64  lakh  hectare  of  forest  land  is  under  encroachment. Details are given in Annexure-III.

***

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART(a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4460 BY SHRI JASBIR SINGH GILL DUE FOR ANSWER ON 20.03.2020 REGARDING 'FOREST LAND'

| State and UT-wise Recorded Forest Area (RFA) as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019   | State and UT-wise Recorded Forest Area (RFA) as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019   | State and UT-wise Recorded Forest Area (RFA) as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                                         | States/UTs                                                                                     | Total Recorded Forest Area (in Sq.Km.)                                                         |
| 1.                                                                                             | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                 | 37,258                                                                                         |
| 2.                                                                                             | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                              | 51,407                                                                                         |
| 3.                                                                                             | Assam                                                                                          | 26,832                                                                                         |
| 4.                                                                                             | Bihar                                                                                          | 6,877                                                                                          |
| 5.                                                                                             | Chhattisgarh                                                                                   | 59,772                                                                                         |
| 6.                                                                                             | Delhi                                                                                          | 102                                                                                            |
| 7.                                                                                             | Goa                                                                                            | 1,225                                                                                          |
| 8.                                                                                             | Gujarat                                                                                        | 21,647                                                                                         |
| 9.                                                                                             | Haryana                                                                                        | 1,559                                                                                          |
| 10.                                                                                            | Himachal Pradesh                                                                               | 37,033                                                                                         |
| 11.                                                                                            | Jammu &Kashmir*                                                                                | 20,230                                                                                         |
| 12.                                                                                            | Jharkhand                                                                                      | 23,605                                                                                         |
| 13.                                                                                            | Karnataka                                                                                      | 38,284                                                                                         |
| 14.                                                                                            | Kerala                                                                                         | 11,309                                                                                         |
| 15.                                                                                            | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                 | 94,689                                                                                         |
| 16.                                                                                            | Maharashtra                                                                                    | 61,579                                                                                         |
| 17.                                                                                            | Manipur                                                                                        | 17,418                                                                                         |
| 18.                                                                                            | Meghalaya                                                                                      | 9,496                                                                                          |
| 19.                                                                                            | Mizoram                                                                                        | 5,641                                                                                          |
| 20.                                                                                            | Nagaland                                                                                       | 8,623                                                                                          |
| 21.                                                                                            | Odisha                                                                                         | 61,204                                                                                         |
| 22.                                                                                            | Punjab                                                                                         | 3,084                                                                                          |
| 23.                                                                                            | Rajasthan                                                                                      | 32,737                                                                                         |
| 24.                                                                                            | Sikkim                                                                                         | 5,841                                                                                          |
| 25.                                                                                            | Tamil Nadu                                                                                     | 22,877                                                                                         |
| 26.                                                                                            | Telangana                                                                                      | 26,904                                                                                         |
| 27.                                                                                            | Tripura                                                                                        | 6,294                                                                                          |
| 28.                                                                                            | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                  | 16,582                                                                                         |
| 29.                                                                                            | Uttarakhand                                                                                    | 3,800                                                                                          |
| 30.                                                                                            | West Bengal                                                                                    | 11,879                                                                                         |
| 31.                                                                                            | A&N Islands                                                                                    | 7,171                                                                                          |
| 32.                                                                                            | Chandigarh                                                                                     | 35                                                                                             |
| 33.                                                                                            | Dadra &Nagar Haveli                                                                            | 20,4                                                                                           |
| 34.                                                                                            | Daman &Diu                                                                                     | 8                                                                                              |
| 35.                                                                                            | Lakshadweep                                                                                    | 0                                                                                              |
| 36.                                                                                            | Puducherry                                                                                     | 13                                                                                             |
| Total                                                                                          | Total                                                                                          | 767,419                                                                                        |

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART(b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  4460  BY  SHRI  JASBIR  SINGH  GILL  DUE  FOR ANSWER ON 20.03.2020 REGARDING 'FOREST LAND'

|   S. No. | States/ UTs       |   Area approved under Section 2 (iii) of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (in ha.) |
|----------|-------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Arunachal Pradesh |                                                                          55200.7  |
|        2 | Chhattisgarh      |                                                                          14744.9  |
|        3 | Goa               |                                                                             22.11 |
|        4 | Madhya Pradesh    |                                                                             11.56 |
|        5 | Maharashtra       |                                                                           2609.5  |
|        6 | Orissa            |                                                                           1711.69 |
|        7 | Rajasthan         |                                                                          38613.6  |
|        8 | Uttar Pradesh     |                                                                           3606.11 |

*****

## Annexure-III

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART(c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  4460  BY  SHRI  JASBIR  SINGH  GILL  DUE  FOR ANSWER ON 20.03.2020 REGARDING 'FOREST LAND'

|   S. No. | Name of States/UTs   | Area under Encroachment (in ha.) (As reported by the State/UT)   |
|----------|----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh       | 29800.50                                                         |
|        2 | Bihar                | 132.21                                                           |
|        3 | Chhattisgarh         | 19330.64                                                         |
|        4 | Gujarat              | 157.862                                                          |
|        5 | Goa                  | Nil                                                              |
|        6 | Haryana              | 153.51                                                           |
|        7 | Himachal Pradesh     | 4629.88                                                          |
|        8 | Jharkhand            | 26496                                                            |
|        9 | Jammu &Kashmir       | 10279.28                                                         |
|       10 | Karnataka            | 2,04,297.36                                                      |
|       11 | Kerala               | 7801.10                                                          |
|       12 | Madhya Pradesh       | 534717.28                                                        |
|       13 | Maharashtra          | 59663.85                                                         |
|       14 | Odisha               | 78505.08                                                         |
|       15 | Punjab               | 5363.05                                                          |
|       16 | Rajasthan            | 10839.76                                                         |
|       17 | Tamil Nadu           | 15010.71                                                         |
|       18 | Telangana            | 3056.00                                                          |
|       19 | Uttar Pradesh        | 26125.35                                                         |
|       20 | Uttarakhand          | 10649.11                                                         |
|       21 | West Bengal          | 10214.80                                                         |
|       22 | Arunachal Pradesh    | 58636.13                                                         |
|       23 | Assam                | 317215.39                                                        |
|       24 | Manipur              | 2213.82                                                          |
|       25 | Meghalaya            | 9850.52                                                          |
|       26 | Mizoram              | 9457.23                                                          |
|       27 | Nagaland             | 2479.96                                                          |
|       28 | Sikkim               | 2817.21                                                          |
|       29 | Tripura              | 6.77                                                             |
|       30 | A &NIslands          | 3,887.72                                                         |
|       31 | Chandigarh           | 14.00                                                            |
|       32 | D&N Haveli           | 0.08                                                             |
|       33 | Daman &Diu           | 87.83                                                            |
|       34 | Lakshadweep          | Nil                                                              |
|       35 | Delhi                | 361.62                                                           |
|       36 | Puducherry           | Nil                                                              |