Lok Sabha Question No. 5145 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-04
Subject: Steps to Control Desertification
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Chandra Prakash Joshi, Sangamlal Kadedin Gupta

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

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION N0. 5145

TO BE ANSWERED ON:  04.04.2022

## Steps to Control Desertification

## 5145.  SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI SHRI SANGAM LAL GUPTA

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

- (a) whether the Government has implemented or propose to launch a scheme in near future to control desertification;
- (b) the details of works undertaken to check desertification in the country during the last three years, State-wise particularly in Rajasthan and Utter Pradesh;
- (c) the  amount  of  funds  sanctioned  and  allocated  for  such  purpose  along  with  the funds spent out of it during the last three years; and
- (d) the details thereof, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d)

The Government is implementing several schemes/programmes to combat desertification, which include, inter -alia:

- (i) 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 157.78 crore has been released to the States/UTs to treat an area of 37110 hectares during 2018-21 under NAP. The state wise details with regard to area covered and fund released is at Annexure I and II respectively.
- (ii) 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.  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 hectares. In the last three years (2018-19 to 2020-21), an amount of Rs 298.10 crore has been sanctioned, out of which Rs. 233.44 crore has been utilized.

- (iii) Demand driven action oriented research work is carried out through projects under National  Mission  on  Himalayan  Studies  (NMHS).  Certain  projects  include  the development  of  models  for  land  reclamation,  soil  conservation  and  watershed management, etc. Rs,10.84 crore was sanctioned under NMHS and the entire amount was utilized in the last three years (2018-19 to 2020-21).   The detail is at Annexure III.
- (iv) Integrated  Watershed  Management  Programme  (IWMP)  is  implemented  under Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna, with objective to develop rainfed and degraded lands.  The activities undertaken include , inter-alia, ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, nursery raising, pasture development, livelihoods, etc  through  interventions to  ensure  sustainable  development  and  improved  natural resource management with better resilience to climate change.

## Annexure-I

## State/UT -wise details with regard to area covered under the National Afforestation

## Programme

## Approved Advance Work Area

## Year-wise Summary

| S No   | State/UT          | Area (in hectares)   | Area (in hectares)   | Area (in hectares)   | Area (in hectares)   |
|--------|-------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
| S No   | State/UT          | 2018-19              | 2019-20              | 2020-21              | Total                |
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh    | 1480                 | 0                    | 0                    | 1480                 |
| 2      | Bihar             | 1550                 | 1935                 | 0                    | 3485                 |
| 3      | Chhattisgarh      | 2000                 | 3500                 | 0                    | 5500                 |
| 4      | Goa               | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 5      | Gujarat           | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 6      | Haryana           | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 7      | Himachal Pradesh  | 0                    | 45                   | 0                    | 45                   |
| 8      | Jammu &Kashmir    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 9      | Jharkhand         | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 10     | Karnataka         | 6085                 | 0                    | 0                    | 6085                 |
| 11     | Kerala            | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 12     | Madhya Pradesh    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 13     | Maharashtra       | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 14     | Orissa            | 3188                 | 6335                 | 0                    | 9523                 |
| 15     | Punjab            | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 16     | Rajasthan         | 0                    | 0                    | 750                  | 750                  |
| 17     | Tamil Nadu        | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 18     | Telangana         | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 19     | Uttar Pradesh     | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 20     | Uttarakhand       | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 21     | West Bengal       | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 22     | Arunachal Pradesh | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 23     | Assam             | 373                  | 0                    | 0                    | 373                  |
| 24     | Manipur           | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 25     | Meghalaya         | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 26     | Mizoram           | 1960                 | 0                    | 0                    | 1960                 |
| 27     | Nagaland          | 0                    | 6100                 | 0                    | 6100                 |
| 28     | Sikkim            | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    | 0                    |
| 29     | Tripura           | 0                    | 1809                 | 0                    | 1809                 |
|        | TOTAL             | 16636                | 19724                | 750                  | 37110                |

## Annexure-II

## Released/utilized Amount in last three years (2018-19 to 2020-21) in States/UTs under the National Afforestation Programme

| S.No   | State/UTS          | Year wise release (Rs in cr)   | Year wise release (Rs in cr)   | Year wise release (Rs in cr)   | Total released amount in last three years (Rs in crore)   | Total Utilized amount in last three years (Rs in crore)   |
|--------|--------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
| S.No   | State/UTS          | 2018-19                        | 2019-20                        | 2020-21                        | Total released amount in last three years (Rs in crore)   | Total Utilized amount in last three years (Rs in crore)   |
| 1      | Andhra             | 6.38                           |                                |                                | 6.38                                                      | 6.38                                                      |
| 2      | Pradesh Bihar      |                                | 1.18                           | 0.8                            | 1.98                                                      | 1.98                                                      |
| 3      | Chhattisgar        | 7.82                           | 5.71                           | 9.88                           | 23.41                                                     | 23.41                                                     |
| 4      | h Goa              |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 5      | Gujarat            |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 6      | Haryana            |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 7      | Himachal           | 2.92                           | 0.52                           | 0.57                           | 4.01                                                      | 3.50                                                      |
| 8      | Pradesh Jammu&     |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 9      | Kashmir Jharkhand  |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 10     | Karnataka          | 10.99                          |                                |                                | 10.99                                                     | 10.99                                                     |
| 11     | Kerala             |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 12     | Madhya             | 7.78                           |                                | 0.57                           | 8.35                                                      | 5.27                                                      |
| 13     | Pradesh Maharashtr | 15.33                          |                                |                                | 15.33                                                     | 9.97                                                      |
| 14     | a Orissa           | 11.36                          | 8.45                           | 13.67                          | 33.48                                                     | 33.48                                                     |
| 15     | Punjab             |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 16     | Rajasthan          | 1.95                           |                                |                                | 1.95                                                      | 1.95                                                      |
| 17     | Tamil              | 2.07                           |                                |                                | 2.07                                                      | 0                                                         |
| 18     | Nadu Telangana     |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 19     | Uttar              | 0.32                           |                                |                                | 0.32                                                      | 0                                                         |
| 20     | Pradesh Uttarakhan | 2.58                           |                                | 1.06                           | 3.64                                                      | 3.07                                                      |
| 21     | d West             |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 22     | Bengal Arunachal   |                                |                                |                                |                                                           |                                                           |
| 23     | Pradesh Assam      | 0.58                           |                                |                                | 0.58                                                      | 0                                                         |
| 24     | Manipur            | 4.38                           |                                |                                | 4.38                                                      | 4.38                                                      |
| 25     | Meghalaya          | 0.74                           |                                |                                | 0.74                                                      | 0.74                                                      |
| 26     | Mizoram            | 7.79                           |                                | 7.4                            | 15.19                                                     | 15.19                                                     |
| 27     | Nagaland           | 6.41                           | 2.35                           | 4.27                           | 13.03                                                     | 13.03                                                     |
| 28     | Sikkim             | 5.98                           |                                | 0.88                           | 6.86                                                      | 6.86                                                      |
| 29     | Tripura            |                                | 3.76                           | 1.33                           | 5.09                                                      | 5.09                                                      |
|        | Total              | 95.38                          | 21.97                          | 40.43                          | 157.78                                                    | 145.29                                                    |

Annexure-III Amount sanctioned and utilized in the last three years (2018-19 to 2020-21) under National

Mission on Himalayan Studies

| Year    | State            |   Amount sanctioned ( Rs. in crore) |   Amount utilized (Rs. in crore) |
|---------|------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 2018-19 | Uttarakhand      |                                0.34 |                             0.34 |
| 2018-19 | Himachal Pradesh |                                0.19 |                             0.19 |
| 2019-20 | Uttarakhand      |                                1.61 |                             1.61 |
| 2019-20 | Sikkim           |                                0.23 |                             0.23 |
| 2019-20 | Himachal Pradesh |                                0.27 |                             0.27 |
| 2020-21 | Uttarakhand      |                                3.6  |                             3.6  |
| 2020-21 | Himachal Pradesh |                                2.3  |                             2.3  |
| 2020-21 | Manipur          |                                1.2  |                             1.2  |
| 2020-21 | Nagaland         |                                1.1  |                             1.1  |
| Total   | Total            |                               10.84 |                            10.84 |