Lok Sabha Question No. 1149 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-22
Subject: Forest Area
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Girish Bhalchandra Bapat

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  1149

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.11.2019

## Forest Area

## 1149.    SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT:

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

- (a) whether the forest area is rapidly shrinking in urban areas, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  it  is  a  fact  that  in  smart  cities  that  are  being  developed  with  the  objective  of maximum forest cover have less than six per cent area under forest and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  pollution  in  the  cities  is  increasing  with  the declining forest cover; and
- (d) if  so,  the  reaction  of  the  Government  thereto  and  corrective  measures  being  taken  by  the Government to tackle the situation?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b)  Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry carries out  assessment  of  forest  cover  of  the  country  biennially  and  the  findings  are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR).  As per the latest report i.e. ISFR2017,  the  total  forest  and  tree  cover  in  the  country  is  8,02,088  square  kilometre (forest cover 7,08,273 square kilometre, tree cover 93,815 square kilometre) which is  24.39%  of  the  geographical  area  of  the  country.    There  is  an  increase  of  8,021 square  kilometre  (forest  cover  6,778  square  kilometre,  tree  cover  1,243  square kilometre)  of  total  forest  and  tree  cover  in  the  country  including  urban  areas compared to that of ISFR-2015.

One of the features of smart cities is preserving and developing open spaces- parks, playgrounds  and  recreational  spaces  in  order  to  enhance  the  quality  of  life  of citizens,  reduce  the  urban  heat  effects  and  generally  promote  eco-balance.  Urban forestry is  also  an  important  tool  for storm  water  management as trees absorb and store rainwater through the canopy, and slow down and filter runoff with their roots. Other benefits include noise control, traffic control, and glare and reflection control.

The  State/UTs  Governments  are  responsible  for  carrying  out  the  afforestation activities/ tree plantation drive in the concerned State/UTs.

The ISFR published by FSI provides State/districts wise forest cover of the country and changes thereon with respect to the previous assessment. However, FSI does not assess forest cover of urban areas and smart cities.

As  per  ISFR-2017,  the  forest  cover  of  districts  included  as  overlapping  with  the major metropolitan cities are given below:-

## (Area in Square kilometre )

| Metro Cities District         | Geographical area   |   Forest Cover as per ISFR 2015 | Forest Cover as per ISFR 2017 (percentage of geographical area)   |   Increase in Forest Cover |
|-------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
| Delhi (State) (All Districts) | 1,483               |                          188.77 | 192.41 (12.97)                                                    |                       3.64 |
| Kolkata (District)            | 185                 |                            0    | 1 (0.54)                                                          |                       1    |
| Chennai (District)            | 144                 |                           13    | 14 (8.00)                                                         |                       1    |
| Mumbai (City)                 | 157                 |                            2    | 3(1.91)                                                           |                       1    |

As per ISFR-2017, there is an increase of forest cover in the above major metropolitan cities compared to that of ISFR-2015.

- (c) & (d)     The increase in pollution in the cities is mainly due to increase in the number of vehicles, emissions due to industrial smoke, bio mass burning, open waste burning and operation of fuel based power plants and diesel generation sets.

The  corrective  measures  taken  by  Government  to  tackle  pollution  in  cities  are  as follows:-

- (i) The  Central  Government  has  launched  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP) under  the  Central  Sector  'Control  of  Pollution'  Scheme  as a  long-term,  timebound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem  across  the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20 % to 30 % reduction in  PM10 and  PM2.5 concentrations  by  2024  keeping  2017  as  the  base  year  for  the comparison  of  concentration.    A  total  of  102  non-attainment  cities  have  been identified based on ambient air quality data for the period 2011 - 2015 and WHO report  2014/2018.   The  city  specific  Action  Plans  have  been  approved  for  ground implementation for all 102 non-attainment cities.

Out of 102 non-attainment cities identified under NCAP, for the cities with million plus  population  and  PM10>90µg/m³,  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate Chang is funding ₹10 Crore in the current year for 28 such priority cities for various components, that, inter  alia, include  Installation  and  commissioning  of  CAAQMS, Creating  green  buffer  zone  along  the  roads,  Mechanical  street  sweeper,  Mobile Enforcement Unit, Public awareness and capacity building activities, Water sprinkler.

For the remaining non-attainment cities, funding of ₹10 Lakh per city for cities with population less than 5 Lakh and ₹ 20 Lakh per city, for cities with a population of 5 to10 Lakh have been sanctioned.

- (ii) A new Central Sector Scheme on 'Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for insitu  management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana,  Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi' for the period from 2018-19 and 2019-20 has been launched with an outlay of Rs.1151.8 Crore.
- (iii) BS-IV standards have been adopted from 1 st April, 2017. Leapfrogging from BS-IV to  BS-VI fuel  standards  since  1st  April,  2018  in  NCT  of  Delhi,  in  NCR  since October 2019 and from 1st April, 2020 in the rest of the country for both fuel as well as vehicles.
- (iv) Operationalisation of Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Western Peripheral Expressway in 2018 to divert non-destined traffic from Delhi.
- (v) To  promote  electric  vehicles,  Faster  Adoption  and  Manufacturing  of  Electric Vehicles (FAME) -2 scheme has been rolled out with an outlay of Rs 10000 Crore for 3 years.
- (vi) Permit requirement for electric vehicles has been exempted.
- (vii) Under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Mission launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs aims for:-
-  Ensure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and a sewerage connection.
-  Increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks) and
-  Reduce  pollution  by  switching  to  public  transport  or  constructing  facilities  for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling). All these outcomes are valued by citizens, particularly women,  and indicators and standards have been prescribed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the form of Service Level Benchmarks.

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