Lok Sabha Question No. 37 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-29
Subject: Encroachment on Wildlife Sancturaries and Protected Areas
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Chandra Prakash Joshi, Nihal Chand Chauhan

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 37

TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2021

## Encroachment on Wildlife Sancturaries and Protected Areas

## 37.   SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

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

- (a) the total area of land reserved for forest in each State/UT of the country including Rajasthan;
- (b) whether  the  Union  Government  has  done  any  assessment  with  regard  to  illegal encroachment being done on the said land for years and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to remove the illegal encroachment and whether the States have also been instructed to take any sort of action in this regard;
- (d) whether there has been any increase in the cases related to encroachment in wildlife sanctuaries and protected areas across the country;
- (e) whether the Government  is concerned about the encroachment on wildlife sanctuaries  and  protected  areas  and  if  so,  the  year/location-wise  details  of  cases related to encroachment including the action taken thereon and laws enacted in this regard; and
- (f) the manner in which the implementation of such laws is being ensured?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) As per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2019, the total Recorded Forest Area in the Country is 7,67,419 square kilometer. The State/Union Territory (UT) wise details including Rajasthan are given in Annexure-1.
- (b) As per the information available in the Ministry, the State/UT wise details of the forest area under encroachment in the country are given in Annexure-2.
- (c) to (f) The  protection  and  management  of  forests  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of concerned State/UT.  The Ministry has written to  State  Governments/UT Administrations  to  remove  encroachment  as  per  the  existing  Acts/Rules  and  to ensure that no further encroachment takes place. In order to  prevent  and  control encroachments, the States and UTs  also take various measures such as demarcation  and digitization of forest boundaries, strengthening infrastructure for forest  protection,  involving  fringe  area  forest  communities  through  Joint  Forest Management  Committees,  Eco Development Committees etc.

The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  provides  financial assistance  to  the  States/UTs  for  protection  and  development  of  Protected  Areas including measures aimed at prevention of encroachment.

The  Ministry  has  not  received  any  reports  from  the  States/UT's  indicating  that there has been an increase in cases related to encroachment in wildlife sanctuaries and Protected Areas across the country.

***

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 37 due for reply on 29.11.2021 regarding 'Encroachment on Wildlife Sancturaries And Protected Areas'.

***

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

(Area in square kilometre)

| S.No.   | State/ UT            | Geographical Area (GA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Total RFA (2019)   |
|---------|----------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------|
| S.No.   | State/ UT            | Geographical Area (GA)   | Reserved Forests              | Protected Forests             | Unclassed Forests             | Total RFA (2019)   |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh       | 162,968                  | 31,959                        | 5,069                         | 230                           | 37,258             |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh    | 83,743                   | 10,589                        | 9,779                         | 31,039                        | 51,407             |
| 3       | Assam                | 78,438                   | 17,864                        | 0                             | 8,968                         | 26,832             |
| 4       | Bihar                | 94,163                   | 693                           | 6,183                         | 1                             | 6,877              |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh         | 135,192                  | 25,782                        | 24,036                        | 9,954                         | 59,772             |
| 6       | Delhi                | 1,483                    | 78                            | 24                            | 0                             | 102                |
| 7       | Goa                  | 3,702                    | 253                           | 0                             | 972                           | 1,225              |
| 8       | Gujarat              | 196,244                  | 14,373                        | 2,886                         | 4,388                         | 21,647             |
| 9       | Haryana              | 44,212                   | 249                           | 1,158                         | 152                           | 1,559              |
| 10      | Himachal Pradesh     | 55,673                   | 1,898                         | 33,130                        | 2,005                         | 37,033             |
| 11      | Jammu & Kashmir*     | 222,236                  | 17,643                        | 2,551                         | 36                            | 20,230             |
| 12      | Jharkhand            | 79,716                   | 4,387                         | 19,185                        | 33                            | 23,605             |
| 13      | Karnataka            | 191,791                  | 28,690                        | 3,931                         | 5,663                         | 38,284             |
| 14      | Kerala               | 38,852                   | 11,309                        | 0                             | 0                             | 11,309             |
| 15      | Madhya Pradesh       | 308,252                  | 61,886                        | 31,098                        | 1,705                         | 94,689             |
| 16      | Maharashtra          | 307,713                  | 49,546                        | 6,733                         | 5,300                         | 61,579             |
| 17      | Manipur              | 22,327                   | 1,467                         | 4,171                         | 11,780                        | 17,418             |
| 18      | Meghalaya            | 22,429                   | 1,113                         | 12                            | 8,371                         | 9,496              |
| 19      | Mizoram              | 21,081                   | 4,483                         | 0                             | 1,158                         | 5,641              |
| 20      | Nagaland             | 16,579                   | 234                           | 0                             | 8,389                         | 8,623              |
| 21      | Odisha               | 155,707                  | 36,049                        | 25,133                        | 22                            | 61,204             |
| 22      | Punjab               | 50,362                   | 44                            | 1,137                         | 1,903                         | 3,084              |
| 23      | Rajasthan            | 342,239                  | 12,475                        | 18,217                        | 2,045                         | 32,737             |
| 24      | Sikkim               | 7,096                    | 5,452                         | 389                           | 0                             | 5,841              |
| 25      | Tamil Nadu           | 130,060                  | 20,293                        | 1,782                         | 802                           | 22,877             |
| 26      | Telangana            | 112,077                  | 20,353                        | 5,939                         | 612                           | 26,904             |
| 27      | Tripura              | 10,486                   | 4,175                         | 2                             | 2,117                         | 6,294              |
| 28      | Uttar Pradesh        | 240,928                  | 12,071                        | 1,157                         | 3,354                         | 16,582             |
| 29      | Uttarakhand          | 53,483                   | 26,547                        | 9,885                         | 1,568                         | 38,000             |
| 30      | West Bengal          | 88,752                   | 7,054                         | 3,772                         | 1,053                         | 11,879             |
| 31      | A&N Islands          | 8,249                    | 5,613                         | 1,558                         | 0                             | 7,171              |
| 32      | Chandigarh           | 114                      | 32                            | 0                             | 3                             | 35                 |
| 33      | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 491                      | 199                           | 5                             | 0                             | 204                |
| 34      | Daman & Diu          | 111                      | 0                             | 0                             | 8                             | 8                  |
| 35      | Lakshadweep          | 30                       | 0                             | 0                             | 0                             | 0                  |
| 36      | Puducherry           | 490                      | 0                             | 2                             | 11                            | 13                 |

| S.No.   | State/ UT   | Geographical Area (GA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Recorded Forest Areas (RFA)   | Total RFA (2019)   |
|---------|-------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------|
|         |             |                          | Reserved Forests              | Protected Forests             | Unclassed Forests             |                    |
|         | 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-2

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 37 due for reply on 29.11.2021 regarding 'Encroachment on Wildlife Sancturaries And Protected Areas'.

***

## Details on forest area under encroachment

|   S. No. | Name of States/UTs   | Area under Encroachment (in ha)   |
|----------|----------------------|-----------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh       | 34,358.33                         |
|        2 | Bihar                | 132.21                            |
|        3 | Chhattisgarh         | 7,645.84                          |
|        4 | Gujarat              | 292.83                            |
|        5 | Goa                  | Nil                               |
|        6 | Haryana              | 1,027.30                          |
|        7 | Himachal Pradesh     | 6,252.00                          |
|        8 | Jharkhand            | 26,496.00                         |
|        9 | Jammu &Kashmir       | 10,279.28                         |
|       10 | Karnataka            | 83,092.06                         |
|       11 | Kerala               | 5,024.53                          |
|       12 | Madhya Pradesh       | 54,1731.28                        |
|       13 | Maharashtra          | 61,270.35                         |
|       14 | Odisha               | 33,154.19                         |
|       15 | Punjab               | 6,700.60                          |
|       16 | Rajasthan            | 10,839.76                         |
|       17 | Tamil Nadu           | 15,593.64                         |
|       18 | Telangana            | 3,056.00                          |
|       19 | Uttar Pradesh        | 12,397.55                         |
|       20 | Uttarakhand          | 10,649.11                         |
|       21 | West Bengal          | 10,214.80                         |
|       22 | Arunachal Pradesh    | 53,450.43                         |
|       23 | Assam                | 36,3142.20                        |
|       24 | Manipur              | 2,213.82                          |
|       25 | Meghalaya            | 9,747.19                          |
|       26 | Mizoram              | 10,852.80                         |
|       27 | Nagaland             | 2,638.11                          |
|       28 | Sikkim               | 2,817.21                          |
|       29 | Tripura              | 6.77                              |
|       30 | A &NIslands          | 3,887.72                          |
|       31 | Chandigarh           | 14.00                             |
|       32 | D&N Haveli           | 0.08                              |
|       33 | Daman &Diu           | 87.83                             |
|       34 | Lakshadweep          | Nil                               |
|       35 | Delhi                | 384.38                            |
|       36 | Puducherry           | Nil                               |