Lok Sabha Question No. 3211 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-12
Subject: Desertification
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Sushil Kumar Singh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3211

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.07.2019

## Desertification

## 3211.   Shri Sushil Kumar Singh:

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

- (a) whether the Government has convened a meeting in New Delhi to combat desertification, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether most parts of the country particularly Bihar has undergone desertification due to various reasons including excessive use of underground water and excessive removal of sand from the riverbeds, and if so, the details hereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  stringent  laws  to  prevent  exploitation  of natural resources and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has gathered State/UT-wise details of the persons engaged in exploitation of natural resources during the last three years and the current year; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the action taken against such persons engaged in exploitation of natural resources in violation of existing laws?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Yes  Sir.  The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  celebrated  the World Day to Combat Desertification on 17 th June 2019 in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi commemorating the 25 th year of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification  (UNCCD).    This  Ministry  also  announced  the  hosting  of  fourteenth session  of  Conference  of  Parties  (CoP  14)  to  UNCCD  from  29 th August  to  13 th September 2019 in Delhi, India.
- (b)    Desertification  and  Land  Degradation  Atlas  of  India,    an  outcome  of  the  study undertaken  by  Space  Applications  Centre,  Ahemdabad    and  sponsored  by  Ministry  of Environment, Forest and climate Change was published in June 2016,.  As per the study

the most significant processes of desertification/ land degradation in the country are due to  water  erosion,  vegetation  degradation  and  wind  erosion.  However,  the  analysis  with respect to total geographical area of the individual states show that Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi,  Gujarat  and  Goa  are  showing  more  than  50%  area  under  desertification/land degradation, whereas states with less than 10% area under desertification/land degradation  are  Kerala,  Assam,  Mizoram,  Haryana,  Bihar,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Punjab  and Arunachal Pradesh.

(c) to (e)  The Ministry of Jal Shakti has circulated a Model Bill to all the States/Union Territories(UT) to enable them to enact suitable ground water legislation for regulation of its development which includes provision of rain water harvesting. So far 15 States/UTs have  adopted  the  aforesaid  legislation  on  the  lines  of  the  Model  Bill  including  Bihar. Central Ground Water Authority has issued directives to Chief Secretaries of all states as well as Administrators of all UTs to take measures to promote/adopt artificial recharge to ground water through rain water harvesting. It also grants No Objection Certificate for Ground water extraction to industries, infrastructure units and mining projects in feasible areas  with  mandatory  condition  for  conservation,  augmentation  and  efficient  use  of ground water.

To ensure environmental stability and to offset the losses caused to environment due to mining, including in the forest area, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change  had  issued  Environment  Impact  Assessment  Notification  (EIA),  2006,  as amended  from  time  to  time  under  the  Environment  Protection  Act  1986.  The  EIA notification ensures that all the mining projects shall obtain prior environmental clearance before carrying out mining activities.

As the complaints related to exploitation of natural resources are  being monitored by  the  concerned  States/UTs,  therefore,  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate Change does not maintain any centralized data in this regard.

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