Lok Sabha Question No. 1184 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-11
Subject: Soil Degradation
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: A. Chellakumar, Karti P. Chidambaram, Behanan Benny, Adoor Prakash, Mohammad Jawed

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1184

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2023

## Soil Degradation

## 1184   DR. A. CHELLAKUMAR:

SHRI KARTI P. CHIDAMBARAM:

SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:

ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware that a significant portion of the soil in the country is considered degraded;
- (b) the policies, schemes or other remedial measures taken by the Government to resolve this issue;
- (c) whether the Government has taken any steps towards mitigating the effects of open cast  mining  and  promoting  appropriate  waste  disposal  in  regions  affected  by  soil degradation;
- (d) if so, the details thereof, if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  towards  promotion  of  integrated  watershed management in regions affected by soil degradation?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b) The mapping (2018-2019) of degraded lands in India by the Space Applications Centre  (ISRO)  reveals  that  an  area  of  97.85  mha  (29.77%)  of  the  total geographic area is under degradation.

The various schemes / initiatives and programmes of Ministry and the National Forest  Policy,  1988  addresses  the  issue  of  land  degradation  such  as  National Mission  for  a  Green  India  (GIM),  Forest  Fire  Protection  &  Management Scheme  (FFPM),  Afforestation  activities  in  the  Compensatory  Afforestation Fund  Management  and  Planning  Authority  (CAMPA),  has  been  used  to increase  forest  cover  across  the  country.  State  Governments  also  implement various schemes for tree plantation/afforestation.

The Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development implements Watershed Development Component under Pradhan Mantri Krishi

Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY)  for  the  development  of rainfed and degraded  lands  in  the  country.  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.  WDC-PMKSY,  through  these  interventions,  seeks  to ensure sustainable development through improved natural resource management and better resilience of farmers to climate change.

- (c) & (d) Before  commencement  of  mining,  it  is  mandatory  for  all  mines  to  obtain Environmental Clearance (EC) from MoEF&CC  for  which, a detailed Environment  Impact  Assessment  (EIA)  is  carried  out  and  accordingly  a comprehensive  Environment  Management  Plan  (EMP)  with  all  safeguards  is prepared.  While  granting  mining  operation  in  forests,  this  Ministry  stipulates various  terms  and  conditions  including  appropriate  mitigation  measures  like Compensatory Afforestation, payment of Net Present Value, Soil and Moisture Conservation  Plan,  Wildlife  Management  plan,  safety  zone  management, reclamation  plan,  etc  under  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980  on  case  to  case basis.
- (e) The  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  also  implements  watershed  development approach  for  rainfed/degraded  lands  and  adopt  a  'decentralized  State  level planning and projectised execution' structure.

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