Lok Sabha Question No. 1089 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-22
Subject: Forest Cover
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Aparajita Sarangi, Feroze Varun Gandhi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1089

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.11.2019

## Forest Cover

## 1089.    SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI: SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI:

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

- (a) the total percentage of forest cover and tree cover in the country, State/UT-wise during the last five years;
- (b) whether the forest land has been cleared and diverted for non-forest purposes during the said period; and
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  indicating  the  area  of  land  in  hectares  cleared  along  with  the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)      Forest  Survey  of  India  (FSI),  Dehradun,  an  organization  under  the  Ministry  carries  out assessment  of  forest  cover  of  the  country  biennially  and  findings  are  published  in  India State of Forest Report (ISFR).  As per the last three ISFR reports, the total forest cover and tree cover outside forest in the country is as follows:-

|   ISFR | Forest Cover in square kilometre and percentage of total geographical area   | Tree cover outside forest in square kilometre and percentage of total geographical area   |
|--------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   2017 | 7,08,273 (21.54%)                                                            | 93,815 (2.85%)                                                                            |
|   2015 | 7,01,673 (21.34%)                                                            | 92,572 (2.82%)                                                                            |
|   2013 | 6,97,898 (21.23%)                                                            | 91,266 (2.78%)                                                                            |

State/UT wise detail of forest cover and tree cover are given in Annexure I and II respectively.

- (b) & (c)    Total forest area approved under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for use of non-forestry purpose in the last five year is 69141.32 hectare. The purpose/category wise details are given  in Annexure  III .  In  the  last  four  years  compensatory  Afforestation  has  been taken-up in 31161.43 hectare of non-forest land and 72097.69 hectare of degraded forest land.

***

## Annexure I

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1089 due for answer on 22.11.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Total Forest Cover in States/UTs as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR)

(Area in square kilometre)

| States/UTs          | Geographical Area   | Total Forest Cover 2013   | Total Forest Cover 2015   | Total Forest Cover 2017   |
|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh      | 1,60,204            | 24,357                    | 24,424                    | 28,147                    |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 83,743              | 67321                     | 67,248                    | 66,964                    |
| Assam               | 78,438              | 27671                     | 27,623                    | 28,105                    |
| Bihar               | 94,163              | 7291                      | 7,288                     | 7,299                     |
| Chhattisgarh        | 1,35,191            | 55621                     | 55,586                    | 55,547                    |
| Delhi               | 1,483               | 180                       | 189                       | 192.41                    |
| Goa                 | 3,702               | 2219                      | 2,224                     | 2,229                     |
| Gujarat             | 1,96,022            | 14653                     | 14,660                    | 14,757                    |
| Haryana             | 44,212              | 1586                      | 1,584                     | 1,588                     |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 55,673              | 14683                     | 14,696                    | 15,100                    |
| Jammu &Kashmir      | 2,22,236            | 22538                     | 22,988                    | 23,241                    |
| Jharkhand           | 79,714              | 23473                     | 23,478                    | 23,553                    |
| Karnataka           | 1,91,791            | 36132                     | 36,421                    | 37,550                    |
| Kerala              | 38,863              | 17922                     | 19,239                    | 20,321                    |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 3,08,245            | 77522                     | 77,462                    | 77,414                    |
| Maharashtra         | 3,07,713            | 50632                     | 50,628                    | 50,682                    |
| Manipur             | 22,327              | 16990                     | 16,994                    | 17,346                    |
| Meghalaya           | 22,429              | 17288                     | 17,217                    | 17,146                    |
| Mizoram             | 21,081              | 19054                     | 18,748                    | 18,186                    |
| Nagaland            | 16,579              | 13044                     | 12,966                    | 12,489                    |
| Odisha              | 1,55,707            | 50347                     | 50,354                    | 51,345                    |
| Punjab              | 50,362              | 1772                      | 1,771                     | 1837                      |
| Rajasthan           | 3,42,239            | 16086                     | 16,171                    | 16,572                    |
| Sikkim              | 7,096               | 3358                      | 3,357                     | 3,344                     |
| Tamil Nadu          | 1,30,058            | 23844                     | 26,345                    | 26,281                    |
| Telangana           | 114,865             | 21759                     | 21,591                    | 20,419                    |
| Tripura             | 10,486              | 7866                      | 7,811                     | 7,726                     |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 2,40,928            | 14349                     | 14,461                    | 14,679                    |
| Uttarakhand         | 53,483              | 24508                     | 24,240                    | 24,295                    |
| West Bengal         | 88,752              | 16805                     | 16,828                    | 16,847                    |
| A&N Islands         | 8,249               | 6711                      | 6,751                     | 6,742                     |
| Chandigarh          | 114                 | 17.26                     | 22,.03                    | 21.56                     |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491                 | 213                       | 206                       | 207                       |
| Daman &Diu          | 112                 | 9                         | 19.61                     | 20.49                     |
| Lakshadweep         | 32                  | 27.06                     | 27.06                     | 27.10                     |
| Puducherry          | 480                 | 50.06                     | 55.38                     | 53.67                     |
| Grand Total         | 32,87,263           | 697898                    | 701,673                   | 7,08,273                  |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1089 due for answer on 22.11.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Total Tree Cover State/ UTs as per India State of Forest Report

(Area in square kilometre)

| States/UTs          |   Geographical Area | Total Tree Cover 2013   | Total Tree Cover 2015   | Total Tree Cover 2017   |
|---------------------|---------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh      |              275069 | 7187                    | 3965                    | 3,753                   |
| Arunachal Pradesh   |               83743 | 660                     | 761                     | 807                     |
| Assam               |               78438 | 1582                    | 1,613                   | 1,496                   |
| Bihar               |               94163 | 2164                    | 2,182                   | 2,263                   |
| Chhattisgarh        |              135191 | 3463                    | 3,629                   | 3,833                   |
| Delhi               |                1483 | 118                     | 111                     | 113                     |
| Goa                 |                3702 | 334                     | 325                     | 323                     |
| Gujarat             |              196022 | 8358                    | 7,914                   | 8,024                   |
| Haryana             |               44212 | 1282                    | 1,355                   | 1,415                   |
| Himachal Pradesh    |               55673 | 697                     | 757                     | 822                     |
| Jammu &Kashmir      |              222236 | 7664                    | 8,354                   | 7,815                   |
| Jharkhand           |               79714 | 2629                    | 2,783                   | 2,922                   |
| Karnataka           |              191791 | 5920                    | 5,552                   | 5,713                   |
| Kerala              |               38863 | 3146                    | 2,951                   | 2,959                   |
| Madhya Pradesh      |              308245 | 7087                    | 7,773                   | 8,073                   |
| Maharashtra         |              307713 | 9142                    | 9,558                   | 9,831                   |
| Manipur             |               22327 | 224                     | 243                     | 220                     |
| Meghalaya           |               22429 | 668                     | 710                     | 657                     |
| Mizoram             |               21081 | 223                     | 535                     | 467                     |
| Nagaland            |               16579 | 372                     | 381                     | 379                     |
| Odisha              |              155707 | 4013                    | 3,986                   | 3,993                   |
| Punjab              |               50362 | 1499                    | 1,544                   | 1,622                   |
| Rajasthan           |              342239 | 7860                    | 8,269                   | 8,266                   |
| Sikkim              |                7096 | 31                      | 35                      | 35                      |
| Tamil Nadu          |              130058 | 4866                    | 4,505                   | 4,671                   |
| Telangana           |              114865 | -                       | 2,549                   | 2,669                   |
| Tripura             |               10486 | 213                     | 233                     | 215                     |
| Uttar Pradesh       |              240928 | 6895                    | 7,044                   | 7,442                   |
| Uttarakhand         |               53483 | 703                     | 752                     | 767                     |
| West Bengal         |               88752 | 2144                    | 2,088                   | 2,136                   |
| Andaman &Nicobar    |                8249 | 41                      | 37                      | 35                      |
| Chandigarh          |                 114 | 10                      | 9                       | 10                      |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli |                 491 | 29                      | 28                      | 30                      |
| Daman &Diu          |                 112 | 9                       | 10                      | 10                      |
| Lakshadweep         |                  32 | 5                       | 4                       | 2                       |
| Puducherry          |                 480 | 29                      | 27                      | 27                      |
| Grand Total         |             3287263 | 91,266                  | 92,572                  | 93,815                  |

## Annexure III

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1089 due for answer on 22.11.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Statement showing total area diverted (Category-wise) for Forest Land under FC Act, 1980 during the period 01.04.2014 to 31.03.2019.

| S. NO.   | CATEGORY                   | Approved     | Approved                      |
|----------|----------------------------|--------------|-------------------------------|
| S. NO.   | CATEGORY                   | No. of Cases | Total Land Diverted (hectare) |
| 1        | Approach Access            | 99           | 3.04                          |
| 2        | Borehole Prospecting       | 4            | 0.00                          |
| 3        | Canal                      | 1            | 0.002                         |
| 4        | Defence                    | 13           | 5085.71                       |
| 5        | Dispensary/Hospital        | 10           | 83.61                         |
| 6        | Disputed Settlement Claims | 0            | 0.00                          |
| 7        | Drinking Water             | 56           | 134.25                        |
| 8        | Encroachments              | 0            | 0.00                          |
| 9        | Forest Village Conversion  | 16           | 2180.94                       |
| 10       | Hydel                      | 30           | 476.24                        |
| 11       | Industry                   | 75           | 286.89                        |
| 12       | Irrigation                 | 121          | 16450.71                      |
| 13       | Mining                     | 141          | 21057.08                      |
| 14       | Optical Fibre Cable        | 28           | 14.41                         |
| 15       | Others                     | 1441         | 3485.87                       |
| 16       | Quarrying                  | 9            | 29.44                         |
| 17       | Railway                    | 68           | 2088.02                       |
| 18       | Rehabilitation             | 3            | 542.59                        |
| 19       | Road                       | 1074         | 8733.81                       |
| 20       | School                     | 28           | 23.80                         |
| 21       | Thermal                    | 10           | 2558.46                       |
| 22       | Transmission Line          | 352          | 5521.45                       |
| 23       | Village Electricity        | 27           | 38.47                         |
| 24       | Wind Power                 | 10           | 346.54                        |
| Total    | Total                      | 3616         | 69141.32                      |