Lok Sabha Question No. 549 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-20
Subject: Forest Cover in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: SRINIVAS KESINENI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  549

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2018

## Forest Cover in Andhra Pradesh

## 549.    SHRI KESINENI NANI:

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

- (a) whether  as  per  India  State  of  Forest  Report  Andhra  Pradesh  has  the  largest  growth  in forest cover and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  combine  afforestation  programs  with  alternative source of livelihood for people who are dependent on forest; and
- (c) the total area of forest cover lost due to fire in the State during the last three years along with the corrective measure taken to manage forest fire including the equipment available for the same?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) Forest  Survey  of  India,  Dehradun  carries  out  the  assessment  of  forest  cover  of  the Country  after  every  two  years  and  the  findings  are  published  in  India  State  of  Forest Report. The latest report in the series is India State of Forest Report (ISFR) - 2017. As per  this  report,  the  Andhra  Pradesh  has  registered  highest  net  increase  in  forest  cover among the States and UTs. The total forest and tree cover in the State of Andhra Pradesh is 31,900 square kilometers which is 19.57 percent of the total geographical area of the State.   There is increase in forest cover by 2141 square kilometer in the State of Andhra Pradesh as compared to ISFR-2015.
- (b) As  per  the  information  provided  by  State  Forest  Department  of  Andhra  Pradesh, Government  of  Andhra  Pradesh  has  taken  up  afforestation  programmes  including Increased Soil and Moisture Conservation (SMC) works on a large scale for providing livelihood  for  the  people  who  are  dependent  on  forest  through  Vana  Samrakshana Samithis and Forest Development Agencies.
- (c) As forest fires in Andhra Pradesh are at ground level, no damage is caused to standing trees.  Hence,  no  loss  to  forest  or  properties  has  taken  place.  The  details  of  forest  fires reported during last three  years are as follows:-

|   Year |   Number of fire point locations occurred |   Area burnt in hectare | Remarks            |
|--------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------|--------------------|
|   2016 |                                      1690 |                 6046.2  | The fire incidents |
|   2017 |                                      8633 |                11735.2  | are surface/ground |
|   2018 |                                      1115 |                 1410.73 | fires only.        |

The details of corrective measure taken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to manage forest fire are as follows:-

-  Publicity and awareness among people.
-  People's participation (JFMCs/VSS/EDCs) to control forest fires.
-  Co-ordination with line departments.
-  Janmabhoomi programmes.
-  Fire  watchers  are  engaged  during  fire  season  every  year  to  sweep  the  dry  leaves, twigs  etc.  in  forest  floor  to  the  nearest  fire  line  and  carry  out  control  burning repeatedly apart from keeping vigil on the occurrence of fire.
-  Watch  towers  provided  with  the  manpower  to  keep  24  hours  watch  on  the occurrence of forest fire in surrounding area during the period from January to May, Fire Watch Towers constructed at Fire Risk Zone areas.
-  Fire Monitoring Cell.
-  Fire alerts received from Forest Survey of India are attended immediately.
-  Base  Camps,  Strike  Force  watchers  invariably  utilized  to  control  the  fires  in respective jurisdiction.
-  To  protect  forest  areas  in  Andhra  Pradesh  State  from  fire  hazards,  provisions  for required infrastructure and fire control measures are being made which includes fire line creation, fire line maintenance, firefighting equipment etc.