Lok Sabha Question No. 1251 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-11
Subject: Forest Fire Prevention and Management
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Pritam Gopinath Munde

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1251

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2023

## Forest Fire Prevention and Management

## 1251. SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU: SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE:

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

- (a) whether  the  allocation  of  Annual  Plan  for  forest  fire  prevention  and  management activities for the Financial Year 2023-24 has been finalised;
- (b) if so, the details of funds allocated and released so far to various States particularly to Odisha and Maharashtra;
- (c) whether  Compensatory  Afforestation  (CA)  is  required  on  degraded  notified  or unclassified  forest  land,  twice  the  extent  of  the  diverted  forest  area,  exclusively  for projects  carried  out  by  Central  Government  Agencies  or  Central  Public  Sector Undertakings;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether these provisions will be extended to include State PSUs and State Government Agencies; and
- (f) if  so,  the  details thereof, State-wise, particularly Maharashtra and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) and (b) The total Budget Estimate (BE) under Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme for the financial year 2023-24 is Rs. 51 Crores out of which Rs.36.2867 crores have been released to State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. The sanction orders for release of fund have been released based on the Utilization of funds by the State/ UT Government and on submission of Utilization certificates against the expenditure incurred.

The details of funds released to all State/UT Governments including Odisha and Maharashtra from last two years up to till date is given in Annexure-I.

(c) to (f) As per the previous contained in the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023 notified  by  the  Central  Government  on  29.11.2023,  the  Compensatory  Afforestation  is  to  be raised over land which is neither notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) or any other law nor managed as forest by the Forest Department.

Further,  in  exceptional  circumstances  there  is  a  provision  to  consider  the  Compensatory Afforestation on degraded forest land which is twice in extent to the area proposed to be diverted in case of the State Public Sector Undertaking for captive coal blocks and the Central Government agencies on case to case basis.

The revenue forest lands which are not notified as forest under any law and not managed by the Forest Department, the degraded Unclassed State Forest in the State of  Arunachal Pradesh, the waste lands in the State of Himachal Pradesh falling under the category of Protected Forest which have been neither been demarcated on the ground nor transferred and mutated in the name of forest department in the revenue records can also be considered for Compensatory Afforestation in case of non-availability of non- Forest land. In these cases also the area for Compensatory Afforestation has to be at least double in extent of the area being diverted. Special dispensation for raising compensatory afforestation over degraded forest land, minimum double in extent of the area diverted, has also been provided in case of the States or Union territory Administrations, having forest area more than 33% of their total geographical area provided that a certificate on non-availability of suitable non-forest land for raising compensatory afforestation is furnished by the State Government /Union territory Administration in the specified format.

The dispensation  for  raising  compensatory  afforestation  over  degraded  forest  land,  minimum double in extent of area diverted is also provided in case of following proposals:

- (a) transmission line projects;
- (b) laying of telephone or optical fibre lines;
- (c) mulberry plantation undertaken for silkworm rearing;
- (d) extraction of minor materials from the river beds;
- (e)  construction  of  link  roads,  small  water  works,  minor  irrigation  works,  school  building, dispensaries, hospital, tiny rural industrial sheds of the Government or any other similar work excluding mining and encroachment cases, which directly benefit the people of the area in hill districts and in other districts having forest area exceeding 50% of the total geographical area, provided diversion of forest area does not exceed 5 hectares;
- (g) actual impact zone of the field firing range considered for diversion under the Adhiniyam or 10% of the total forest area diverted in case entire area of the field firing range is proposed for diversion.

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## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a)& (b) of the Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No. 1251 due for reply on 11.12.2023 by Shri Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Shri Rahul Ramesh Shewale and Dr. Pritam Gopinathrao Munde regarding 'Forest Fire Prevention and Management'

Details of fund released to State/UT's under Centrally Sponsored Forest Fire Prevention & Management Scheme during the last two years and till date.

(Rs. In Crores)

| S. No.            | States            | 2021-22 Amount Released   | 2022-23 Amount Released   | 2023-24 Amount Released (as on 20.11.2023)   |
|-------------------|-------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Other States      | Other States      |                           |                           |                                              |
| 1                 | Andhra Pradesh    | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | -                                            |
| 2                 | Bihar             | 0.00                      | 0.3962                    | 1.428                                        |
| 3                 | Chhattisgarh      | 1.4055                    | 0.00                      | 0.732                                        |
| 4                 | Gujarat           | 0.998                     | 0.00                      | 0.707                                        |
| 5                 | Goa               | 0.5730                    | 0.00                      | 0.180                                        |
| 6                 | Haryana           | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | 0.175                                        |
| 7                 | Himachal Pradesh  | 1.1617                    | 1.1329                    | 1.808                                        |
| 8                 | Jharkhand         | 1.3615                    | 0.0169                    | 0.478                                        |
| 9                 | Karnataka         | 1.5733                    | 0.8738                    | 0.528                                        |
| 10                | Kerala            | 3.6288                    | 4.4431                    | 3.540                                        |
| 11                | Madhya Pradesh    | 0.00                      | 6.3548                    | 7.750                                        |
| 12                | Maharashtra       | 0.00                      | 3.9599                    | -                                            |
| 13                | Odisha            | 8.3983                    | 3.3880                    | 1.471                                        |
| 14                | Punjab            | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | 0.367                                        |
| 15                | Rajasthan         | 1.2721                    | 0.3347                    | 0.507                                        |
| 16                | Tamil Nadu        | 2.3890                    | 0.00                      | 2.894                                        |
| 17                | Telangana         | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | 1.526                                        |
| 18                | Uttar Pradesh     | 1.1179                    | 0.00                      | 0.440                                        |
| 19                | Uttarakhand       | 3.5436                    | 1.3393                    | 3.379                                        |
| 20                | West Bengal       | 1.3273                    | 0.00                      | -                                            |
|                   | Total             | 28.75                     | 22.2396                   | 27.916                                       |
| NE & Sikkim       | NE & Sikkim       |                           |                           |                                              |
| 1                 | Assam             | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | -                                            |
| 2                 | Arunachal Pradesh | 0.8977                    | 1.9812                    | 1.981                                        |
| 3                 | Manipur           | 0.8653                    | 1.0661                    | 1.066                                        |
| 4                 | Meghalaya         | 0.00                      | 0.3817                    | 0.467                                        |
| 5                 | Mizoram           | 0.8719                    | 0.3087                    | 0.481                                        |
| 6                 | Nagaland          | 0.6452                    | 0.2882                    | 2.883                                        |
| 7                 | Sikkim            | 0.8973                    | 0.4791                    | 0.964                                        |
| 8                 | Tripura           | 0.8226                    | 0.4748                    | 0.476                                        |
|                   | Total             | 5.00                      | 4.9798                    | 8.320                                        |
| Union Territories | Union Territories |                           |                           |                                              |
| 1                 | A & N Islands     | 0.00                      | 0.60                      | -                                            |
| 2                 | Chandigarh        | 0.5072                    | 0.00                      | 0.0497                                       |
| 3                 | D&N Haveli        | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | -                                            |
| 4                 | Daman & Diu       | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | -                                            |
| 5                 | Jammu & Kashmir   | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | -                                            |
| 6                 | Lakshadweep       | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | -                                            |
| 7                 | New Delhi         | 0.00                      | 0.00                      | -                                            |
| 8                 | Pondicherry       | 0.00                      | 0.4340                    | -                                            |
|                   | Total             | 0.5072                    | 1.034                     | 0.0497                                       |
|                   | Grand Total       | 34.2572                   | 28.2534                   | 36.2867                                      |

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