Lok Sabha Question No. 964 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-18
Subject: Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Nihal Chand Chauhan

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

## LOK SABHA

## UN-STARRED QUESTION NO:  964 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.09.2020

## Forest Land

## 964.   SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

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

- (a)  the  area-wise  total  lands  reserved  for  forest  land  across  the  country  State/UT-wise including Rajasthan;
- (b)  whether  any  assessment  has  been  done  by  the  Government  for  the  unauthorised occupancy of the said land for several years, if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)  the  details  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Union  Government  to  remove  the  unauthorised occupation and whether the States have been directed to take any action in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) As per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2019, the total Recorded Forest Area in the  country  is  7,67,419  square  kilometre  out  of  which  434,853  square  kilometre  is Reserve Forest. The State/Union Territory (UT) wise details are given in Annexure-I .
- (b) The  information  received  from  the  States  and  UTs  regarding  encroachment  on  forest lands is given in Annexure-II.
- (c) The responsibility of protection of forests from various threats including encroachment primarily lies with the respective State or UT. The respective State Governments and UT Administrations take action in such cases as per the extant acts and rules. The Ministry issues  advisories  from  time  to  time  to  all  States  and  UTs  to  prevent  and  remove encroachment on forest land.

The States and UTs take various measures such as demarcation and digitization of forest boundaries,  strengthening  infrastructure  for  forest  protection  and  involving  fringe  area forest  communities  such  as  Joint  Forest  Management  Committees,  Eco  Development Committees etc. to prevent and check encroachments.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 964 due for answer on 18.09.2020 regarding 'Forest Land'

## Recorded Forest Areas in States/UTs as per ISFR-2019

## (Area in square kilometre)

| State/ UT           | Geographical Area (GA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Total RFA (2019)   |
|---------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------|
| State/ UT           | Geographical Area (GA)   | Reserved Forests              | Protected Forests             | Unclassed Forests             | Total RFA (2019)   |
| Andhra Pradesh      | 162,968                  | 31,959                        | 5,069                         | 230                           | 37,258             |
| Arunachal Pradesh   | 83,743                   | 10,589                        | 9,779                         | 31,039                        | 51,407             |
| Assam               | 78,438                   | 17,864                        | 0                             | 8,968                         | 26,832             |
| Bihar               | 94,163                   | 693                           | 6,183                         | 1                             | 6,877              |
| Chhattisgarh        | 135,192                  | 25,782                        | 24,036                        | 9,954                         | 59,772             |
| Delhi               | 1,483                    | 78                            | 24                            | 0                             | 102                |
| Goa                 | 3,702                    | 253                           | 0                             | 972                           | 1,225              |
| Gujarat             | 196,244                  | 14,373                        | 2,886                         | 4,388                         | 21,647             |
| Haryana             | 44,212                   | 249                           | 1,158                         | 152                           | 1,559              |
| Himachal Pradesh    | 55,673                   | 1,898                         | 33,130                        | 2,005                         | 37,033             |
| Jammu &Kashmir*     | 222,236                  | 17,643                        | 2,551                         | 36                            | 20,230             |
| Jharkhand           | 79,716                   | 4,387                         | 19,185                        | 33                            | 23,605             |
| Karnataka           | 191,791                  | 28,690                        | 3,931                         | 5,663                         | 38,284             |
| Kerala              | 38,852                   | 11,309                        | 0                             | 0                             | 11,309             |
| Madhya Pradesh      | 308,252                  | 61,886                        | 31,098                        | 1,705                         | 94,689             |
| Maharashtra         | 307,713                  | 49,546                        | 6,733                         | 5,300                         | 61,579             |
| Manipur             | 22,327                   | 1,467                         | 4,171                         | 11,780                        | 17,418             |
| Meghalaya           | 22,429                   | 1,113                         | 12                            | 8,371                         | 9,496              |
| Mizoram             | 21,081                   | 4,483                         | 0                             | 1,158                         | 5,641              |
| Nagaland            | 16,579                   | 234                           | 0                             | 8,389                         | 8,623              |
| Odisha              | 155,707                  | 36,049                        | 25,133                        | 22                            | 61,204             |
| Punjab              | 50,362                   | 44                            | 1,137                         | 1,903                         | 3,084              |
| Rajasthan           | 342,239                  | 12,475                        | 18,217                        | 2,045                         | 32,737             |
| Sikkim              | 7,096                    | 5,452                         | 389                           | 0                             | 5,841              |
| Tamil Nadu          | 130,060                  | 20,293                        | 1,782                         | 802                           | 22,877             |
| Telangana           | 112,077                  | 20,353                        | 5,939                         | 612                           | 26,904             |
| Tripura             | 10,486                   | 4,175                         | 2                             | 2,117                         | 6,294              |
| Uttar Pradesh       | 240,928                  | 12,071                        | 1,157                         | 3,354                         | 16,582             |
| Uttarakhand         | 53,483                   | 26,547                        | 9,885                         | 1,568                         | 38,000             |
| West Bengal         | 88,752                   | 7,054                         | 3,772                         | 1,053                         | 11,879             |
| A&N Islands         | 8,249                    | 5,613                         | 1,558                         | 0                             | 7,171              |
| Chandigarh          | 114                      | 32                            | 0                             | 3                             | 35                 |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 491                      | 199                           | 5                             | 0                             | 204                |
| Daman &Diu          | 111                      | 0                             | 0                             | 8                             | 8                  |
| Lakshadweep         | 30                       | 0                             | 0                             | 0                             | 0                  |
| Puducherry          | 490                      | 0                             | 2                             | 11                            | 13                 |
| Total               | 3,287,469                | 434,853                       | 218,924                       | 113,642                       | 767,419            |

Source: State/UT Forest Departments

* Includes Jammu & Kashmir area outside LoC that is under illegal occupation of Pakistan and China.

## Annexure II

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 964 due for answer on 18.09.2020 regarding 'Forest Land'

## State/UT wise details of forest area under encroachment

|   S. No. | State/UT          | Area under Encroachment (in hectares)   |
|----------|-------------------|-----------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh    | 29800.5093                              |
|        2 | Bihar             | 132.21                                  |
|        3 | Chhattisgarh      | 19330.64                                |
|        4 | Gujarat           | 157.8620                                |
|        5 | Goa               | Nil                                     |
|        6 | Haryana           | 153.51                                  |
|        7 | Himachal Pradesh  | 4629.88                                 |
|        8 | Jharkhand         | 26496.00                                |
|        9 | Jammu &Kashmir    | 10279.28                                |
|       10 | Karnataka         | 82,678.01                               |
|       11 | Kerala            | 7801.10                                 |
|       12 | Madhya Pradesh    | 534717.28                               |
|       13 | Maharashtra       | 59663.851                               |
|       14 | Odisha            | 78505.08                                |
|       15 | Punjab            | 5363.05                                 |
|       16 | Rajasthan         | 10839.76                                |
|       17 | Tamil Nadu        | 15129.863                               |
|       18 | Telangana         | 3056.00                                 |
|       19 | Uttar Pradesh     | 26125.35                                |
|       20 | Uttarakhand       | 10649.11                                |
|       21 | West Bengal       | 10214.80                                |
|       22 | Arunachal Pradesh | 58636.13                                |
|       23 | Assam             | 317215.39                               |
|       24 | Manipur           | 2213.82                                 |
|       25 | Meghalaya         | 9850.525                                |
|       26 | Mizoram           | 9457.23                                 |
|       27 | Nagaland          | 2479.96                                 |
|       28 | Sikkim            | 2817.21                                 |
|       29 | Tripura           | 6.77                                    |
|       30 | A &NIslands       | 3,887.724                               |
|       31 | Chandigarh        | 14                                      |
|       32 | D&NHaveli         | 0.08                                    |
|       33 | Daman &Diu        | 87.83                                   |
|       34 | Lakshadweep       | Nil                                     |
|       35 | Delhi             | 629.51                                  |
|       36 | Puducherry        | Nil                                     |