Lok Sabha Question No. 3073 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-06
Subject: Forest Cover
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Gowdar Mallikarjunappa Siddeshwara

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3073

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2019

## Forest Cover

## 3073.   SHRI G.M. SIDDESHWAR:

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

- (a) the actual forest cover expanded against the targets fixed during the last three years in the county;
- (b) the details of the area where deforestation and denudation of forest has taken place during the last three years, along with the reasons therefor;
- (c)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  check  further  denudation  of  forest  area  in  the country;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  launch  a  new  initiative  involving  local-level institutions  and  private  sector  to  expand  forest  cover  in  the  country,  especially  in  rural areas; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the efforts made by the Government in this direction?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The Forest Survey of India carries out biennial assessment of forest and tree cover of the countryand findings are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per ISFR2017, the total forest and tree cover in the country is 8,02,088 square kilometers (sq.km.) (forest  cover  7,08,273  sq.km.,  tree  cover  93,815  sq.km.)  which  is  24.39%  of  the geographical area of the country. There is an increase of 8,021 sq.km. (forest cover 6,778 sq.km., tree cover 1,243 sq.km.) of total forest and tree cover compared to that of ISFR2015.
- (b)  &  (c)  Since  forests  are  managed  by  the  States/UTs,  the  responsibility  of  protection  of  forests including  that  from  deforestation  and  denudation  lie  primarily  with  the  respective State/UT Governments.Therefore, all necessary action for prevention and control need to be taken by the concerned State/UT Governments under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and various State Acts and Rules.The information on deforestation due to various reasons is not maintained at Government of India level.

The Government Policy is to ensure more trees are planted than removed under different developmental proposals approved under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The trees are removed only when it is absolutely necessary. Because of this policy, India's forest cover is increasing.In the last three years 69,44,608 number of trees were removed and 6.2 Crore  trees planted as compensatory  afforestation. The  details are given in Annexure-I. In such cases, as part of the approval, appropriate compensatory afforestation schemes have been stipulated for taking up over 62769.58 hectare land in the last three years.

- (d) & (e)   There is no new initiative proposed by the Government. However, the ongoing Centrally Sponsored  Schemes  of  the  ministry  such  as  National  Afforestation  Programme  NAP), Green  India  Mission  (GIM)  and  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats  (DWH)  aim  at increasing forest and tree cover in the country.The ministry also supports school nursery and urban forestry programmes through people's participation. The fund under Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Management  and  Planning  Authority  (CAMPA), interalia, is also used in plantation activity including compensatory afforestation.

Details of fund released by the Ministry for conservation, development and expansion of forests  under  NAP,  GIM  and  DWH  during  the  last  two  years  and  the  current  year  to States/UTs  are given  in Annexure-II,  III,  IV respectively.  Under  Compensatory Afforestation Funds (CAF), the details of State-wise funds released during last two years and part of 2019-20 by the Ad-hoc CAMPA are given in Annexure V . After formation of National  Authority  under  Compensatory  Afforestation  (CAF)  Act,  2016,  a  sum  of  Rs. 47436.18 Crore have been deposited in State funds as per the provision of the CAF Act, 2016. State-wise details of fund deposited in State fund are at Annexure VI .

Afforestation activities are also taken up under various programmes/funding sources such as  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme,  Pradhan  Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana and under concerned State/UT schemes/plans.

The multi departmental efforts have yielded good results in conserving environment by addressing the problem of deforestation, besides keeping the pace of development, which is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  forest  cover  has  stabilized  and  has  been  constantly increasing over the years.

As per the latest Global Forest Resource Assessment published by Food and Agriculture Organization  of  the  United  Nations,  India  is  one  of  the  top  ten  countries  in  the  world having maximum forest cover. India stands at the eight position in respect of having the greatest forest gain.

************

Annexure I

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3073 due for answer on 06.12.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Permission of tree felling (nos.) against the FCA Proposals

| S. No.      | Name of the Regional Office   |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   Grand Total |
|-------------|-------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------------|
| 1           | Head Office, MoEF&CC          |    909192 |   1034662 |   1588717 |       3532571 |
| 2           | Bengaluru                     |     12173 |     22429 |      1240 |         35842 |
| 3           | Bhopal                        |     80756 |    253378 |    169296 |        503430 |
| 4           | Bhubnashewar                  |     93227 |     32779 |      5350 |        131356 |
| 5           | Chandigarh                    |     41714 |    156578 |    202153 |        400445 |
| 6           | Chennai                       |     50721 |     10753 |         0 |         61474 |
| 7           | Dehradun                      |     18240 |    124993 |     45088 |        188321 |
| 8           | Lucknow                       |    104076 |     81442 |     13588 |        199106 |
| 9           | Nagpur                        |    359936 |    343916 |    485697 |       1189549 |
| 10          | Ranchi                        |     22080 |     53678 |     48435 |        124193 |
| 11          | Shillong                      |      9301 |    437556 |    131464 |        578321 |
| Grand Total | Grand Total                   |   1701416 |   2552164 |   2691028 |       6944608 |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3073 due for answer on 06.12.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Details of State wise funds released under National Afforestation Programme

|        |                   |            | (Rupees in Crore)   | (Rupees in Crore)   |
|--------|-------------------|------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| S. No. | State             | FY 2017-18 | FY 2018-19          | FY 2019-20          |
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh    | 3.36       | 6.38                |                     |
| 2      | Bihar             | 4.23       | 0.00                |                     |
| 3      | Chhattisgarh      | 10.86      | 7.82                | 5.71                |
| 4      | Goa               | 0.00       | 0.00                |                     |
| 5      | Gujarat           | 0.00       | 0.00                |                     |
| 6      | Haryana           | 2.71       | 0.00                |                     |
| 7      | Himachal Pradesh  | 1.72       | 2.92                | 0.52                |
| 8      | Jammu &Kashmir    | 7.20       | 0.00                |                     |
| 9      | Jharkhand         | 0.00       | 0.00                |                     |
| 10     | Karnataka         | 3.24       | 10.99               |                     |
| 11     | Kerala            | 0.00       | 0.00                |                     |
| 12     | Madhya Pradesh    | 8.74       | 7.78                |                     |
| 13     | Maharashtra       | 6.73       | 15.33               |                     |
| 14     | Orissa            | 3.49       | 11.36               | 8.45                |
| 15     | Punjab            | 0.00       | 0.00                |                     |
| 16     | Rajasthan         | 1.40       | 1.95                |                     |
| 17     | Tamil Nadu        | 0.00       | 2.07                |                     |
| 18     | Telangana         | 0.00       | 0.00                |                     |
| 19     | Uttar Pradesh     | 0.67       | 0.32                |                     |
| 20     | Uttarakhand       | 3.36       | 2.58                |                     |
| 21     | West Bengal       | 0.00       | 0.00                |                     |
| 22     | Arunachal Pradesh | 0.86       | 0.00                |                     |
| 23     | Assam             | 0.00       | 0.58                |                     |
| 24     | Manipur           | 3.19       | 4.38                |                     |
| 25     | Meghalaya         | 1.65       | 0.74                |                     |
| 26     | Mizoram           | 5.80       | 7.79                |                     |
| 27     | Nagaland          | 5.85       | 6.41                | 2.35                |
| 28     | Sikkim            | 0.00       | 5.98                |                     |
| 29     | Tripura           | 4.94       | 0.00                | 3.76                |
|        | Total             | 80.00      | 95.38               | 20.80               |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3073 due for answer on 06.12.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## State-wise details of funds released under Green India Mission.

## (Rupees in Crore)

| Sl. No.   | State          | FY2017-18   | FY 2018-19   | FY 2019-20   |
|-----------|----------------|-------------|--------------|--------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh | 0.446       | 2.6662       |              |
| 2         | Chhattisgarh   | 10.953      | 5.3607       | 5.036        |
| 3         | Karnataka      | 0.857       | 1.62339      | 2.209        |
| 4         | Kerala*        | -           | -            | 16.318       |
| 5         | Manipur        | 6.416       | 4.88812      | 4.166        |
| 6         | Mizoram        | 20.00       | 22.364       |              |
| 7         | Odisha         | 1.406       | 4.74334      | 14.189       |
| 8         | Punjab*        | 6.217       | -            |              |
| 9         | Uttarakhand**  | -           | -            |              |
| 10        | Sikkim         | -           | 3.3236       | 3.124        |
| 11        | Maharashtra    | -           | 10.30188     |              |
| 12        | Madhya Pradesh | -           | 24.15919     |              |
| Total     | Total          | 46.295      | 79.4304      | 45.044       |

Note: *Fund were revalidated for utilization in FY 2016-17.

** Fund were revalidated for utilization in FY 2016-17 and FY 2018-19

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3073 due for answer on 06.12.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Details of funds released under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme 'Development of Wildlife Habitats'

(Rupees in Crore)

| S.No.   | Name of State/UTs   |   FY 2017-18 |   FY 2018-19 |   FY 2019-20 |
|---------|---------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| 1       | A&N Islands         |       1.4193 |       1.91   |       1.3264 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh      |       0      |       0.75   |       0      |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh   |       2.6993 |       3.4442 |       4.1414 |
| 4       | Assam               |       2.7582 |       2.6532 |       1.6426 |
| 5       | Bihar               |       3.2267 |       7.49   |       1.4137 |
| 6       | Chandigarh          |       0.2606 |       0      |       0      |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh        |       4.3501 |       3.5061 |       3.1003 |
| 8       | Goa                 |       0.8599 |       0      |       0      |
| 9       | Gujarat             |       5.5852 |      22.32   |       0      |
| 10      | Haryana             |       1.8144 |       1.55   |       0.4386 |
| 11      | Himachal Pradesh    |       2.3741 |       3.703  |       3.0576 |
| 12      | Jammu &Kashmir      |       5.7791 |       4.9243 |       0      |
| 13      | Jharkhand           |       0.956  |       0.5051 |       0.9396 |
| 14      | Karnataka           |       4.2789 |       6.53   |       4.1856 |
| 15      | Kerala              |       9.0083 |      12.934  |       5.7491 |
| 16      | Madhya Pradesh      |      13.7948 |       9.122  |       6.2926 |
| 17      | Maharashtra         |       8.0805 |      10.312  |       5.5333 |
| 18      | Manipur             |       4.2566 |       4.056  |       3.5935 |
| 19      | Meghalaya           |       1.1406 |       3.12   |       0      |
| 20      | Mizoram             |       4.8744 |       4.3    |       0      |
| 21      | Nagaland            |       5.6587 |       8.822  |       7.7783 |
| 22      | Odisha              |       3.4293 |       4.99   |       5.5847 |
| 23      | Rajasthan           |       6.2242 |       5.85   |       6.7956 |
| 24      | Sikkim              |       2.0215 |       3.94   |       3.9627 |
| 25      | Tamil Nadu          |       3.9472 |       3.841  |       4.095  |
| 26      | Telangana           |       1.5708 |       0      |       0      |
| 27      | Uttar Pradesh       |       3.8696 |       1.1981 |       4.2661 |
| 28      | Uttarakhand         |      29.7936 |      17.641  |       0      |
| 29      | West Bengal         |       6.5799 |       9.606  |       8.006  |
| 30      | Puducherry          |       0      |       0      |       0      |
| 31      | Lakshadweep         |       0.0671 |       0.463  |       1.3679 |
| 32      | Delhi               |       0      |       5.519  |       0      |
| 33      | Tripura             |       0      |       0      |       0.9031 |
|         | TOTAL               |     150      |     165      |      84.1745 |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3073 due for answer on 06.12.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Details of State/UTs wise funds released under Compensatory Afforestation Funds by Ad-hoc CAMPA

| State/UT                 | FY-17-18          | FY-18-19          | FY-19-20          |
|--------------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| State/UT                 | Release (Rs.)     | Release (Rs.)     | Release (Rs.)     |
| Andaman& Nicobar Islands | 1,33,00,000.00    | 1,56,00,000.00    | Nil               |
| Andhra Pradesh           | 97,00,00,000.00   | 1,04,47,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Arunachal Pradesh        |                   | 3,54,15,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Assam                    | 70,00,00,000.00   | 45,84,00,000.00   | Nil               |
| Bihar                    | 30,31,00,000.00   | 46,61,90,000.00   | Nil               |
| Chandigarh               | 1,13,00,000.00    | 1,27,00,000.00    | Nil               |
| Chhattisgarh             | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Dadar Nagar Haveli       | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Daman &Diu               | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Delhi                    | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Goa                      | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Gujarat                  | 27,00,00,000.00   | 2,12,6600,000.00  | Nil               |
| Haryana                  | 80,00,00,000.00   | 1,44,20,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Himachal Pradesh         | 1,20,00,00,000.00 | 1,32,52,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Jammu Kashmir            | 69,00,00,000.00   | Nil               | 1,01,77,00,000.00 |
| Jharkhand                | 2,34,00,00,000.00 | 2,86,25,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Karnataka                | 86,00,00,000.00   | 1,01,40,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Kerala                   | 8,00,00,000.00    | 14,61,00,000.00   | Nil               |
| Lakshadweep              | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Madhya Pradesh           | 2,00,00,00,000.00 | 2,68,76,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Maharashtra              | 1,99,00,00,000.00 | 2,25,00,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Manipur                  | 29,50,00,000.00   | 24,85,00,000.00   | Nil               |
| Meghalaya                | 7,00,00,000.00    | Nil               | Nil               |
| Mizoram                  | 6,85,00,000.00    | 8,30,00,000.00    | Nil               |
| Nagaland                 | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Orissa                   | 5,09,00,00,000.00 | 5,54,00,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Pudducherry              | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Punjab                   | 64,00,00,000.00   | 79,20,00,000.00   | Nil               |
| Rajasthan                | 1,79,00,00,000.00 | 1,82,03,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Sikkim                   | Nil               | Nil               | Nil               |
| Tamil Nadu               | 12,68,00,000.00   | 7,00,00,000.00    | Nil               |
| Telangana                | 1,27,00,00,000.00 | 2,37,38,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Tripura                  | 7,10,00,000       | 16,70,00,000.00   | Nil               |
| Uttar Pradesh            | 1,44,00,00,000.00 | 1,50,60,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| Uttrakhand               | 96,00,00,000.00   | 3,03,00,00,000.00 | Nil               |
| West Bengal              | Nil               | 21,22,00,000.00   | Nil               |
| Total                    | 24,049,000,000.00 | 35,235,890,000.00 | 1,017,700,000.00  |

Annexure VI

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (e) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3073 due for answer on 06.12.2019 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## State-wise details of funds deposited under CAF Act, 2016 (Rupees in crore)

| Sl.No.   | Name of State     |   Funds transferred |
|----------|-------------------|---------------------|
| 1        | Odisha            |             5933.98 |
| 2        | Chhattisgarh      |             5791.7  |
| 3        | Madhya Pradesh    |             5196.69 |
| 4        | Jharkhand         |             4158.02 |
| 5        | Maharashtra       |             3844.24 |
| 6        | Telangana         |             3110.38 |
| 7        | Uttarakhand       |             2675.09 |
| 8        | Uttar Pradesh     |             1819.63 |
| 9        | Rajasthan         |             1748.26 |
| 10       | Andhra Pradesh    |             1734.81 |
| 11       | Himachal Pradesh  |             1660.72 |
| 12       | Arunachal Pradesh |             1588.72 |
| 13       | Gujarat           |             1484.6  |
| 14       | Karnataka         |             1350.37 |
| 15       | Haryana           |             1282.65 |
| 16       | Punjab            |             1040.84 |
| 17       | Assam             |              560.81 |
| 18       | Bihar             |              522.95 |
| 19       | Sikkim            |              392.36 |
| 20       | Manipur           |              309.76 |
| 21       | Goa               |              238.16 |
| 22       | West Bengal       |              236.48 |
| 23       | Mizoram           |              212.98 |
| 24       | Tripura           |              183.65 |
| 25       | Meghalaya         |              163.31 |
| 26       | Tamil Nadu        |              113.42 |
| 27       | Kerala            |               81.59 |
|          | Total             |            47436.2  |