Lok Sabha Question No. 1897 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-29
Subject: Reserved Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Nihal Chand Chauhan

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1897 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2019

## Reserved Forest Land

## 1897.    SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

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

- (a) the  details  of  such  forest  land  declared  as  reserved  in  the  country,  State/  UT-wise  along with Rajasthan;
- (b) the total quantum of land out of the reserved forest lands that have been encroached upon during the last five years, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether any steps have been taken by the Government to evict the encroached forest land from illegal occupation; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The  details  of  State/UTs  wise  Recorded  Forest  Area  as  reported  by  State/UTs  Forest Department  and  published  in the India State of Forest Report-2017  is given in Annexure-I.
- (b) As  per the information provided by the State/UTs, details of forest area under encroachment alongwith percentage are given in Annexure-II.
- (c) &  (d)      Protection  of  forests  from  various  threats,  including  encroachment,  is  primarily  the responsibility of the respective State/ UT Governments as per the existing Acts/Rules. The State Forest Departments also issue directions to field officers/staff for regular patrolling and take action against encroachers of forest land remove encroachments, if any, as per extant law.

Government  of  India  issues  advisories  to  the  States/UTs  to  remove  encroachment  on forest  land.  Funds  are  provided  to  States/UTs  for  forest  protection  measures  such  as survey  and  demarcation  of  forest  boundaries,  fixing  of  boundary  pillars  etc  under  the Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Act,  2016  and  Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund Rules, 2018, funds.

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Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1897 due for answer on 29.11.2019 regarding 'Reserved Forest Land'

## Recorded Forest Areas in States and UTs as per ISFR-2017

(Area in square kilometre)

| State/ UT           | Geographical Area (GA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Total RFA (2017)   | % of GA   |
|---------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------|-----------|
|                     |                          | Reserved Forests (RF)         | Protected Forests (PF)        | Unclassed Forests             |                    |           |
| Andhra Pradesh      | 162968                   | 31,959                        | 5069                          | 230                           | 37258              | 22.86     |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 83,743                   | 10,589                        | 9,779                         | 31,039                        | 51,407             | 61.39     |
| Assam               | 78,438                   | 17,864                        | 0                             | 8,968                         | 26,832             | 34.21     |
| Bihar               | 94163                    | 693                           | 6183                          | 1                             | 6877               | 7.30      |
| Chhattisgarh        | 135192                   | 25,782                        | 24036                         | 9954                          | 59772              | 44.21     |
| Delhi               | 1,483                    | 78                            | 24                            | 0                             | 102                | 6.88      |
| Goa                 | 3,702                    | 253                           | 0                             | 972                           | 1225               | 33.09     |
| Gujarat             | 196,244                  | 14,373                        | 2886                          | 4388                          | 21647              | 11.03     |
| Haryana             | 44,212                   | 249                           | 1158                          | 152                           | 1559               | 3.53      |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 55,673                   | 1,898                         | 33130                         | 2005                          | 37033              | 66.52     |
| Jammu &Kashmir      | 222,236                  | 17,643                        | 2551                          | 36                            | 20230              | 9.10      |
| Jharkhand           | 79,716                   | 4,387                         | 19185                         | 33                            | 23605              | 29.61     |
| Karnataka           | 191,791                  | 28,690                        | 3931                          | 5663                          | 38284              | 19.96     |
| Kerala              | 38,852                   | 11,309                        | 0                             | 0                             | 11309              | 29.11     |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 308,252                  | 61,886                        | 31098                         | 1705                          | 94689              | 30.72     |
| Maharashtra         | 307,713                  | 49,546                        | 6733                          | 5300                          | 61579              | 20.01     |
| Manipur             | 22,327                   | 1,467                         | 4,171                         | 11,780                        | 17,418             | 78.01     |
| Meghalaya           | 22,429                   | 1,113                         | 12                            | 8,371                         | 9,496              | 42.34     |
| Mizoram             | 21,081                   | 4,483                         | 0                             | 1,158                         | 5,641              | 26.76     |
| Nagaland            | 16,579                   | 234                           | 0                             | 8,389                         | 8,623              | 52.01     |
| Odisha              | 155,707                  | 36049                         | 25133                         | 22                            | 61204              | 39.31     |
| Punjab              | 50,362                   | 44                            | 1137                          | 1903                          | 3084               | 6.12      |
| Rajasthan           | 342,239                  | 12475                         | 18217                         | 2045                          | 32737              | 9.57      |
| Sikkim              | 7,096                    | 5452                          | 389                           | 0                             | 5,841              | 82.31     |
| Tamil Nadu          | 130,060                  | 20293                         | 1782                          | 802                           | 22877              | 17.59     |
| Telangana           | 112,077                  | 20353                         | 5939                          | 612                           | 26904              | 24.00     |
| Tripura             | 10,486                   | 4175                          | 2                             | 2,117                         | 6,294              | 60.02     |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 240,928                  | 12071                         | 1157                          | 3354                          | 16582              | 6.88      |
| Uttarakhand         | 53,483                   | 26547                         | 9885                          | 1568                          | 38000              | 71.05     |
| West Bengal         | 88,752                   | 7054                          | 3772                          | 1053                          | 11879              | 13.38     |
| A&N Islands         | 8,249                    | 5613                          | 1558                          | 0                             | 7171               | 86.93     |
| Chandigarh          | 114                      | 32                            | 0                             | 3                             | 35                 | 30.70     |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491                      | 199                           | 5                             | 0                             | 204                | 41.55     |
| Daman &Diu          | 111                      | 0                             | 0                             | 8                             | 8                  | 7.21      |
| Lakshadweep         | 30                       | 0                             | 0                             | 0                             | 0                  | 0.00      |
| Puducherry          | 490                      | 0                             | 2                             | 11                            | 13                 | 2.65      |
| Total               | 32,87,469                | 4,34,705                      | 2,19,432                      | 1,13,881                      | 7,67,419           | 23.34     |

Source: State/UT Forest Departments

Annexure II

Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1897 due for answer on 29.11.2019 regarding 'Reserved Forest Land'

## State/UTs wise details of area under encroachment

## (Area in Square kilometre)

|   S. No. | Name of States/UTs   | Encroachment of forest land   | %of total Recorded Forest Area   |
|----------|----------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh       | 16.9072                       | 0.045                            |
|        2 | Bihar                | 1.3221                        | 0.019                            |
|        3 | Chhattisgarh         | 193.3064                      | 0.323                            |
|        4 | Gujarat              | 347.91                        | 1.607                            |
|        5 | Goa                  | Nil                           | Nil                              |
|        6 | Haryana              | 0.1753                        | 0.011                            |
|        7 | Himachal Pradesh     | 23.3902                       | 0.063                            |
|        8 | Jharkhand            | 264.96                        | 1.122                            |
|        9 | Jammu &Kashmir       | 102.7928                      | 0.508                            |
|       10 | Karnataka            | 280.0123                      | 0.731                            |
|       11 | Kerala               | 78.0110                       | 0.689                            |
|       12 | Madhya Pradesh       | 5347.1728                     | 5.647                            |
|       13 | Maharashtra          | 605.0413                      | 0.982                            |
|       14 | Odisha               | 785.0508                      | 1.282                            |
|       15 | Punjab               | 81.7531                       | 2.650                            |
|       16 | Rajasthan            | 108.3976                      | 0.331                            |
|       17 | Tamil Nadu           | 150.4157                      | 0.657                            |
|       18 | Telangana            | 30.56                         | 0.113                            |
|       19 | Uttar Pradesh        | 261.2535                      | 1.575                            |
|       20 | Uttarakhand          | 106.4911                      | 0.280                            |
|       21 | West Bengal          | 102.1480                      | 0.859                            |
|       22 | Arunachal Pradesh    | 586.3613                      | 1.140                            |
|       23 | Assam                | 3172.1539                     | 11.822                           |
|       24 | Manipur              | 67.2651                       | 0.386                            |
|       25 | Meghalaya            | 0.1397                        | 0.001                            |
|       26 | Mizoram              | 0.08                          | 0.001                            |
|       27 | Nagaland             | 24.7996                       | 0.287                            |
|       28 | Sikkim               | 28.1721                       | 0.482                            |
|       29 | Tripura              | 0.0677                        | 0.000                            |
|       30 | A&NIslands           | 40.6869                       | 0.567                            |
|       31 | Chandigarh           | Nil                           | Nil                              |
|       32 | D&NHaveli            | 0.0008                        | 0.000                            |
|       33 | Daman &Diu           | 0.8783                        | 10.978                           |
|       34 | Lakshadweep          | Nil                           | Nil                              |
|       35 | Delhi                | 6.2951                        | 6.171                            |
|       36 | Puducherry           | Nil                           | Nil                              |