Lok Sabha Question No. 5175 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-24
Subject: Plantation on Railway Land
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Prataprao  Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5175 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2019

## PLANTATION ON RAILWAY LAND

†5175.   SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government proposes to focus on planting trees on railway land;
- (b) if so, the number of hectares of land covered under plantation and the number of saplings planted during the current year;
- (c) whether  the  Railways  has  set  any  target  for  tree  plantation during the current year; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (d):      A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5175  BY SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.07.2019 REGARDING PLANTATION ON RAILWAY LAND.

(a) to (d): In pursuance of Railways' commitment towards environmental  improvement  and  sustainable  development,  Railway has  planned  to  plant  5  crore  sapling/plants  upto  March,  2020  on railway  land  boundary  along  the  railway  tracks  depending  upon availability  of  resources  and  co-operation  from  the  State  Forest Department.  To  achieve  this,  Railway  has  taken  many  strategic initiatives.  Forest  Departments  of  the  States  are  being  involved  in plantation as well as maintenance and disposal of trees, thus bringing in  the  much  needed  expertise  in  afforestation.    For  this  purpose, Ministry of Railways have finalised a model agreement in consultation with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in January 2016 to be entered between Zonal Railways and respective State Forest Department for plantation of trees on Railway land along the railway track and station yards without transferring the ownership of  the  land  in  favour  of  State  Forest  Department.    As  per  this Agreement, plantation along the railway track on railway land boundary  can  be  done  by  Forest  Department  without  declaring  such land as protected forest and can be re-used by Railways at any time without any hindrance to Railway works/development projects, cost of the plantation including its protection and maintenance can be borne by  State  Forest  Department  or  Railway  Administration  or  can  be shared  by  both.  Some  Zonal  Railways    have    already signed agreements  with   Forest  Departments  of   Andhra  Pradesh,  Assam,

Chhattisgarh,  Haryana,  Karnataka,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal based on Model Agreement finalized in consultation with MoEFCC.

A  target  of  1.35  crores  saplings/plants  (Boundary  and  Block Plantation)  have  been  fixed  for  the  current  year  and  about  34000 trees/saplings covering 37 route kilometres in boundary plantation and about 39,000 trees/saplings covering an area of 34 hectares (approximately) in block plantation has been planted up to the month of May of current year.

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