Lok Sabha Question No. 5541 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-26
Subject: Mining Activities on Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Chandeshwar Prasad

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5541

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.07.2019

## Mining Activities on Forest Land

## 5541. SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD :

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

- (a) whether a large area of forest land has been given on lease for mining purposes in the country including Bihar and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  some  people  are  undertaking  illegal  mining activities  without  legal  mining  lease  in  the  forest  area  of  Bihar  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (c) the action taken against the defaulters;
- (d) whether the Government has assessed the estimated destruction of thick forest area due to the mining activities and its effect on the environment ecology and its inhabitants;
- (e) if so, the outcome thereof; and
- (f) the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) On recommendation of concerned State Governments/ Union Territory administration, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) considers proposals for granting prior permissions for use of forest land for nonforestry purposes including mining. Depending  on  availability of mineral resources, Ministry grants such permissions which are considered on case to case basis. State wise details of forest area permitted for mining purposes in last three years is given at Annexure-I.
- (b) & (c) As  per  the  information  received  from  Government  of  Bihar  there  have  been sporadic incidents of illegal mining in the State of Bihar, against which cases have been  registered  under  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927  as  per  relevant  provisions.  The Department of Forest, Government of Bihar has been continuously taking action against  the  illegal  miners  in  the  forest  area.  The  details  of  the  prosecution

registered  against  illegal  miners  in  the  State  of  Bihar  in  last  three  years  is  as below.

| Years     |   No. of Cases registered against illegal Mining |
|-----------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 2018-2019 |                                               73 |
| 2017-2018 |                                              143 |
| 2016-2017 |                                              340 |
| Total     |                                              556 |

- (d) & (e) Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  and  State Government  undertake  Biodiversity  assessment  studies  for  assessing  impact  of mining on Forest and Ecology of concerned area on specific proposals for use of forest  area  for  mining  purposes.  The  recommendations  in  these  studies  are considered for taking appropriate decisions on such proposals.
- (f) Every State government has a well organised department with forest personnel to administer,  manage  and  protect  the  forest  land  and  resources  as  per  their scientific, societal and administrative requirement. Further, to control and prevent illegal mining, following measures are also taken.
- i. Monitoring and assessment of extent of illegal activities with the use of Satellite Imageries.
- ii. Deployment of well-equipped forest personnel.
- iii. Coordinated efforts involving the line departments of the Government and concerned agencies, such as police, Civil Administration etc.
- iv. Geographic  information  system  (GIS)  and  mapping  of the affected locations.
- v. Implementation  of  appropriate  provision  under  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927, State specific Forest Acts, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and rules and guidelines made there under.

***

## Annexure-I

Annexure  referred  in  the  answer  of  part  'a'  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  no.  5541  by  Shri Chandeshwar Prasad due for  answer on 26.07.2019 regarding Mining Activities on Forest Land.

## Statement Showing Cases (State wise and Financial Year wise) For Diversion of Forest Land in Last three years Under FC Act 1980

Category :

Mining

During the Period :

01/04/2016 to 31/03/19

Case Status :

APPROVED

|                    |       | 2016-2017 Approved   | 2016-2017 Approved     | 2017-2018 Approved   | 2017-2018 Approved     | 2018-2019 Approved   | 2018-2019 Approved     | Grand Total Approved                | Grand Total Approved   |
|--------------------|-------|----------------------|------------------------|----------------------|------------------------|----------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------------|------------------------|
| No. States / UTs   |       | No. of Cases         | Area Diverted (in ha.) | No. of Cases         | Area Diverted (in ha.) | No. of Cases         | Area Diverted (in ha.) | No. of Cases Area Diverted (in ha.) |                        |
| 1 Andhra Pradesh   | 4     | 14.98                | 4                      | 16.68                | 4                      | 14.53                | 12                     | 46.19                               |                        |
| 2 Chhattisgarh     | 4     |                      | 678.57                 | 1                    | 75.06                  | 5                    | 601.47                 | 10 1355.09                          |                        |
| 3 Goa              | 0     | 0.00                 | 1                      | 17.31                | 0                      | 0.00                 | 1                      | 17.31                               |                        |
| 4 Himachal Pradesh | 0     | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 1                      | 2.18                 | 1                      | 2.18                                |                        |
| 5 Jharkhand        | 3     | 239.35               | 0                      | 0.00                 | 2                      | 273.42               | 5                      | 512.77                              |                        |
| 6 Karnataka        | 2     | 37.87                | 0                      | 0.00                 | 1                      | 100.54               | 3                      | 138.41                              |                        |
| 7 Madhya Pradesh   | 5     | 387.76               | 2                      | 192.18               | 2                      | 535.33               | 9                      | 1115.27                             |                        |
| 8 Maharashtra      | 4     | 2.65                 | 2                      | 479.35               | 0                      | 0.00                 | 6                      | 482.00                              |                        |
| 9 Meghalaya        | 1     | 4.82                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 1                      | 4.82                                |                        |
| 10 Orissa          | 6     | 240.70               | 8                      | 1755.22              | 11                     | 3459.89              | 25                     | 5455.81                             |                        |
| 11 Rajasthan       | 0     | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                                |                        |
| 12 Telangana       | 0     | 0.00                 | 4                      | 1443.26              | 3                      | 498.34               | 7                      | 1941.60                             |                        |
| 13 Tripura         | 0     | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                                |                        |
| 14 Uttarakhand     | 1     | 35.36                | 0                      | 0.00                 | 0                      | 0.00                 | 1                      | 35.36                               |                        |
| 15 West Bengal     | 2     | 122.95               | 1                      | 57.00                | 0                      | 0.00                 | 3                      | 179.95                              |                        |
| TOTAL              | TOTAL | 32                   | 1765.00                | 23                   | 4036.06                | 29                   | 5485.70                | 84 11286.76                         |                        |