Lok Sabha Question No. 4077 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-28
Subject: Financial Assistance to curb Desertification
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4077

TO BE ANSWERED ON; 28.03.2022

## Financial Assistance to curb Desertification .

## 4077.  SHRI RITESH PANDEY

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

- (a) whether the Government has made an estimation of land which is facing desertification and if so, the details from 2019 to 2022, State-wise;
- (b) whether  the  Government  is  taking  any  initiatives  to  stop  water  erosion,  vegetation degradation, wind erosion, etc. with the help of community participation and awareness to stop desertification;
- (c) the details of financial assistance provided to curb desertification in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether any Expert Body/ Committee has been appointed in an advisory capacity or in any other way to make suggestions or recommendations to address the situation and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

## (a) to (d)

Desertification and  Land Degradation Atlas of India, published by Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad,  states that the land degradation and desertification  in the country has been estimated to be  97.84 million hectares in 2018-19.  The State -wise details in respect of Land Degradation/Desertification is at Annexure I.

The  Government  is  implementing several schemes/ programmes  to stop water erosion, vegetation  degradation,  wind  erosion,  etc.  with  the  help  of  community  participation  and awareness to stop desertification which include inter -alia:

- (i) The National  Afforestation  Program:  National  Afforestation  and  Eco-Development Board  (NAEB)  is  implementing  National  Afforestation  Programme  (NAP)  for ecological  restoration  of  degraded  forests  and  adjoining  areas  through  people's participation. The scheme is implemented through 3 tier institutional set up of State Forest  Development  Agency  (SFDA)  at  State  level,  Forest  Development  agency (FDA) at Forest Division Level and Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) at village level. An amount of 203.95 cr has been released to the states to treat an area

of  37110 hectares during 2018-21 under NAP. The State Wise/year wise details of approved  area  and  fund  release  under  NAP  are  given  in  Annexure  II  and  III respectively. Now NAP scheme has been merged with Green India Mission.

- (ii) Green  India  Mission:  National  Mission  for  Green  India (GIM)  aims  at  protecting, restoring and enhancing India's forest cover by means of plantation activities in forest and non-forest areas.  GIM activities were started in the FY 2015-16. So far, a sum of Rs.  594.28  Crores  have  been  released  to  fifteen  States  namely  Andhra  Pradesh, Arunachal  Pradesh,  Chhattisgarh,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Karnataka,  Kerala,  Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, West Bengal, and one union territory Jammu & Kashmir for creation of plantation over an area of 117503 ha.
- (iii) Projects are  taken  to  check  land  degradation  under  the  National  Mission  on Himalayan  Studies  (NMHS)  through  community-based  plantation  towards  land reclamation,  land  greening  through  afforestation  and  plantation  towards  watershed management.  The total area on which land restoration activities have been conducted under NMHS, during 2016-17- 2021-22, is 955.9 ha with a budget of Rs. 14.24 crore
- (iv) Watershed  Development  Component  of  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojna (PMKSY):Department  of  Land  Resources  is    implementing  Integrated  Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) since 2009-10, with objective to develop rainfed and degraded lands. The activities undertaken, inter alia, include ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting,  nursery  raising, pasture  development,  livelihoods  for  asset  less  persons, etc through interventions seeks to ensure sustainable development through improved natural resource management and better resilience of farmers to climate change.
- (v) Government  of  India  through  various  schemes  under  the  ambit  of  afforestation parameter of the Twenty point programme, is annually taking up afforestation over 2.0 million hectares since 2019-20.

***

## Annexure-I

## State and UT wise status of Land Degradation and desertification in India

|     | Name of the State   |   Total Area under Desertification (hectares) (2018-19) |
|-----|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.  | Andhra Pradesh      |                                                 2378042 |
| 2.  | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                                  200683 |
| 3.  | Assam               |                                                  834530 |
| 4.  | Bihar               |                                                  746586 |
| 5.  | Chhatisgarh         |                                                 2306531 |
| 6.  | Delhi               |                                                   91543 |
| 7.  | Goa                 |                                                  194877 |
| 8.  | Gujarat             |                                                10248057 |
| 9.  | Haryana             |                                                  364154 |
| 10. | Himachal Pradesh    |                                                 2400300 |
| 11. | Jammu and Kashmir   |                                                 1136013 |
| 12. | Jharkhand           |                                                 5482260 |
| 13. | Karnataka           |                                                 6959847 |
| 14. | Kerala              |                                                  422299 |
| 15. | Ladakh              |                                                 7098768 |
| 16. | Madhya Pradesh      |                                                 3859735 |
| 17. | Maharashtra         |                                                14306029 |
| 18. | Manipur             |                                                  612566 |
| 19. | Meghalaya           |                                                  557576 |
| 20. | Mizoram             |                                                  275827 |
| 21. | Nagaland            |                                                  828943 |
| 22. | Orissa              |                                                 5359014 |
| 23. | Punjab              |                                                  167989 |
| 24. | Rajasthan           |                                                21237665 |
| 25. | Sikkim              |                                                   84610 |
| 26. | TamilNadu           |                                                 1599981 |
| 27. | Telangana           |                                                 3638508 |
| 28. | Tripura             |                                                  447378 |
| 29. | Uttar Pradesh       |                                                 1549608 |
| 30. | Uttarakhand         |                                                  673894 |
| 31. | West Bengal         |                                                 1784345 |
|     | Total               |                                                97848160 |

Annexure-II

## NATIONAL AFFORESTATION AND ECO-DEVELOPMENT BOARD NATIONAL AFFORESTATION PROGRAMME (NAP): Approved Advance Work Area

## Year-wise Summary

| S No   | State                | (in hectares)   | (in hectares)   | (in hectares)   | (in hectares)   | (in hectares)   |
|--------|----------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| S No   | State                | 18-19           | 19-20           | 20-21           | 21-22           | Total           |
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh       | 1480            | 0               | 0               | 0               | 1480            |
| 2      | Bihar                | 1550            | 1935            | 0               | 0               | 3485            |
| 3      | Chhattisgarh         | 2000            | 3500            | 0               | 0               | 5500            |
| 4      | Goa                  | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 5      | Gujarat              | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 6      | Haryana              | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 7      | Himachal Pradesh     | 0               | 45              | 0               | 0               | 45              |
| 8      | Jammu &Kashmir       | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 9      | Jharkhand            | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 10     | Karnataka            | 6085            | 0               | 0               | 0               | 6085            |
| 11     | Kerala *             | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 12     | Madhya Pradesh       | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 13     | Maharashtra          | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 14     | Orissa               | 3188            | 6335            | 0               | 0               | 9523            |
| 15     | Punjab               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 16     | Rajasthan            | 0               | 0               | 750             | 0               | 750             |
| 17     | Tamil Nadu           | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 18     | Telangana            | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 19     | Uttar Pradesh        | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 20     | Uttarakhand          | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 21     | West Bengal          | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
|        | Total (Other States) | 14303           | 11815           | 750             | 0               | 26868           |
| 22     | Arunachal Pradesh    | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 23     | Assam                | 373             | 0               | 0               | 0               | 373             |
| 24     | Manipur              | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 25     | Meghalaya            | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 26     | Mizoram              | 1960            | 0               | 0               | 0               | 1960            |
| 27     | Nagaland             | 0               | 6100            | 0               | 0               | 6100            |
| 28     | Sikkim               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               | 0               |
| 29     | Tripura              | 0               | 1809            | 0               | 0               | 1809            |
|        | Total (NE States)    | 2333            | 7909            | 0               | 0               | 10242           |
|        | TOTAL                | 16636           | 19724           | 750             | 0               | 37110           |

Annexure-III

## National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board National Afforestation Programme: Amount Released Year-Wise

| S.   | State                | Year    | Year    | Year    | Year    | Year   |
|------|----------------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|--------|
| No.  |                      | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | TOTAL  |
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh       | 6.38    |         |         |         | 6.38   |
| 2    | Bihar                |         | 1.18    | 0.80    | 4.29    | 6.27   |
| 3    | Chhattisgarh         | 7.82    | 5.71    | 9.88    | 5.56    | 28.98  |
| 4    | Goa                  |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 5    | Gujarat              |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 6    | Haryana              |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 7    | Himachal Pradesh     | 2.92    | 0.52    | 0.57    |         | 4.02   |
| 8    | Jammu &Kashmir       |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 9    | Jharkhand            |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 10   | Karnataka            | 10.99   |         |         | 9.01    | 20.00  |
| 11   | Kerala               |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 12   | Madhya Pradesh       | 7.78    |         | 0.57    |         | 8.35   |
| 13   | Maharashtra          | 15.33   |         |         |         | 15.33  |
| 14   | Orissa               | 11.36   | 8.45    | 13.67   | 7.77    | 41.25  |
| 15   | Punjab               |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 16   | Rajasthan            | 1.95    |         |         |         | 1.95   |
| 17   | Tamil Nadu           | 2.07    |         |         |         | 2.07   |
| 18   | Telangana            |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 19   | Uttar Pradesh        | 0.32    |         |         |         | 0.32   |
| 20   | Uttarakhand          | 2.58    |         | 1.06    |         | 3.64   |
| 21   | West Bengal          |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
|      | Total (Other States) | 69.51   | 15.87   | 26.55   | 26.63   | 138.56 |
|      | North Eastern states |         |         |         |         |        |
| 22   | Arunachal Pradesh    |         |         |         |         | 0.00   |
| 23   | Assam                | 0.58    |         |         |         | 0.58   |
| 24   | Manipur              | 4.38    |         |         |         | 4.38   |
| 25   | Meghalaya            | 0.74    |         |         |         | 0.74   |
| 26   | Mizoram              | 7.79    |         | 7.40    | 5.14    | 20.33  |
| 27   | Nagaland             | 6.41    | 2.35    | 4.27    | 10.65   | 23.68  |
| 28   | Sikkim               | 5.98    |         | 0.88    |         | 6.86   |
| 29   | Tripura              |         | 3.76    | 1.33    | 3.75    | 8.84   |
|      | Total (NE States)    | 25.87   | 6.11    | 13.87   | 19.54   | 65.39  |
|      | G. Total             | 95.38   | 21.98   | 40.42   | 46.17   | 203.95 |