Lok Sabha Question No. 2993 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Illegal Mining in Forest Areas
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: P.P. Chaudhary, Arjunlal Meena, Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar, Chandra Prakash Joshi, Sangamlal Kadedin Gupta, Sunil Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2993

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2021

## Illegal Mining in Forest Areas

2993.   SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

SHRI ARJUN LAL MEENA:

SHRI RANJEETSINGH HINDURAO NAIK NIMBALKAR:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRI SANGAM LAL GUPTA:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware of illegal mining being carried out in forest areas of the country including Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Jharkhand;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of such instances reported during the last five years, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether any measures have been taken to prevent illegal mining in forest areas of the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) to (d) Protection and management of forests is primarily the responsibility of concerned State/UT.  The  various  actions  to  check  illegal  mining  are  taken  as  per  the provisions  under  various  Acts,  such  as  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927;  Wildlife Protection Act, 1972;  and various  rules made under these Acts and other State specific Acts and Rules.

Further,  to  prevent  and  stop  forest  offences  including  illegal  mining,  various measures are taken by the State Forest Departments such as setting up of check posts,  barriers,  use  of  modern  technology  (that  includes  wireless  networks, remote  sensing,  Geographical  Information  System,  Information  Technology, Global Positioning System and Differential Global Positioning System), improved mobility of field staff by providing vehicles for patrolling, survey and demarcation of forest areas and construction of boundary pillars. Local communities  are  also  involved  in  conservation,  protection  and  management  of forests  through  Joint  Forest  Management.  Regular  patrolling  in  mining  prone forest  areas  is  done  and  whenever  required  joint  operations  with  Revenue  and Police  officials  are  also  carried  out.  The  cases  for  illegal  mining  are  registered and  dealt  by  the  respective  State/UT  authorities  as  per  due  process  of  law applicable  to  the  area  concerned.  The  detail  of  all  such  instances  are  not maintained at the Ministry level.

However,  as  far  as  instances  of  illegal  mining  in  Maharashtra,  Jharkhand  and Rajasthan is concerned, information with respect to last five years as reported by the concerned states is as below:

| State       | Year    |   No. of illegal mining cases |
|-------------|---------|-------------------------------|
| Maharashtra | 2017    |                            69 |
|             | 2018    |                           103 |
|             | 2019    |                            97 |
|             | 2020    |                           156 |
|             | 2021    |                           150 |
| Jharkhand   | 2016-17 |                           560 |
|             | 2017-18 |                           359 |
|             | 2018-19 |                           453 |
|             | 2019-20 |                           414 |
|             | 2020-21 |                           546 |
| Rajasthan   | 2016-17 |                          1341 |
|             | 2017-18 |                          1805 |
|             | 2018-19 |                          1688 |
|             | 2019-20 |                          1685 |
|             | 2020-21 |                          2045 |

***