Lok Sabha Question No. 3264 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-13
Subject: Deforestation
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3264

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2020

## Deforestation

## 3264.  SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  thirty  percent  of  India's  land  area  has  been degraded through deforestation, over-cultivation, soil erosion and depletion of wetlands;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b)  As per the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, prepared by the Space  Applications  Centre,  96.4  million-hectare  (mha)  area  of  the  country  is undergoing the process of land degradation, i.e., 29.32% of the total geographical area of the country during 2011-13.
- (c) Various steps have been taken by the Government of India to address the impact of  land  degradation  through  deforestation,  over-cultivation,  soil  erosion  and depletion of wetlands. To increase and improve forest and tree cover, afforestation  programmes  are  taken  up  under  various  Centrally  Sponsored Schemes  of  the  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Changewhich include National Afforestation Programme, National Mission for a Green India, Compensatory Afforestation Fund projects, etc. Afforestation and tree plantingare  also  taken  up  by  various  Departments,  NGOs,  Civil  Society, Corporate bodies,etcand under various Central and State Plan/Non Plan Schemes.

The Ministry also supports the States and Union Territories for conservation and management of wetlands in the country through a centrally sponsored scheme namely,  National  Plan  for  Conservation  of  Aquatic  Eco-systems.  For  more effective conservation and management of wetlands in the country, the Central Government  has  notified  the  Wetlands  (Conservation  &  Management)  Rules, 2017.

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers'Welfare has taken up various programmesto  tackle  land degradation such as the National Mission  for Sustainable  Agriculture  which  includes  interventions  such  as  the  Soil  Health Card, ParamparagatKrishiVikasYojna, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North-Eastern Region, Rain Fed Area Development, and the Sub-Mission  on  Agro-Forestry,  National  Bamboo  Mission,  Prime  Minister KrishiSinchaiYojna (PMKSY) - Per Drop More Crop,etc.

The  then  Integrated  Watershed  Management  Programme  of  the  Ministry  of Rural Development) has since been amalgamated as a Watershed Development component  of  PMKSY  in  2015-16,  and  an  area  of  about  20.5  mha  has  been developed under completed and ongoing projects.

Studies  have  also  been  carried  out  under  the  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural Research  to  combat  desertification  on  various  issues  such  as  assessment  of status of desertification in India's Arid Regions through satellite remote sensing and identification of field-based indicators; checking soil erosion, sand movement and control wind erosion through sand dune stabilization, shelter-belt plantation  and  soil  and  water  conservation;  rehabilitation  of  mine  spoil  areas; methodology  for  reclaiming  degraded  land  due  to  water  logging  and  salinityalkalinity etc.

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