Lok Sabha Question No. 33 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-03
Subject: Encroachment of Forest Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Smt. Manju Sharma

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 33

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.02.2025

## Encroachment of Forest Land

## 33. SMT. MANJU SHARMA:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  received  any  information  from  various  States  of  the country about encroachment of forest land;
- (b) if so, the details of forest area under encroachment in the country, State and UT-wise;
- (c) the details of steps taken by the Government to remove the said encroachment;
- (d) the  details  of  provisions  made  by  the  Government  to  prevent encroachment  of  forest land; and
- (e) the  status  of  implementation  of  the  provisions  by  the  States  and  the  reaction  of  the Government thereto in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) and (b) The details of encroachment in forest area are maintained by the respective State Government/UT Administration and the report in this regard is submitted to the Ministry. The States/UTs  which  reported  the  details  of  forest  land  under  encroachment  are  given  in  the Annexure.

(c)  to  (e)  The  Protection  and  management  of  forests  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of  the concerned State Government/UT Administration. To prevent the encroachment, appropriate legal provisions are there in the Indian Forest Act 1927, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Local Forest Acts/Rules.

This  Ministry  issues  advisories  to  State  Governments/UT  Administrations  to  remove encroachments on forest lands as per the provisions of the law and to ensure that further encroachments  do  not  occur.    Further,  in  order  to  prevent  encroachments,  various measures are taken by the State Forest Departments, which include survey and demarcation of forest areas, fixing of pillars along forest boundary and regular patrolling by field staff. The State Forest Departments also use a range of modern technologies such as  Geographical Information System, Remote sensing and Global Positioning System to check encroachments in the forest areas. The Joint Forest Management committees have also been  established  at village levels  involving  local  communities  for  protection, conservation and management of forests.

***

Annexure referred  to  part  (a)  and  (b)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  no.  33  due  for reply on 03.02.2025 regarding 'Encroachment of Forest Land'

## Forest land under encroachment

|   S. No. | Name of the State/UTs       |   Area of forest land under Encroachment as reported by the State/UT as on 31.03.2024 (in ha) |
|----------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh              |                                                                                      13318.2  |
|        2 | Assam                       |                                                                                     213254    |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh           |                                                                                      53500    |
|        4 | Chhattisgarh                |                                                                                      16891.2  |
|        5 | Gujarat                     |                                                                                      13008.1  |
|        6 | Jharkhand                   |                                                                                      20040.5  |
|        7 | Kerala                      |                                                                                       4975.52 |
|        8 | Maharashtra                 |                                                                                      57554.9  |
|        9 | Odisha                      |                                                                                      40507.6  |
|       10 | Punjab                      |                                                                                       7567.42 |
|       11 | Tripura                     |                                                                                       4242.37 |
|       12 | Tamil Nadu                  |                                                                                      15768.5  |
|       13 | Uttarakhand                 |                                                                                       4992.43 |
|       14 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |                                                                                       3742.08 |
|       15 | D&N Haveli                  |                                                                                         39.78 |
|       16 | Daman &Diu                  |                                                                                         48.99 |
|       17 | Sikkim                      |                                                                                        469.16 |
|       18 | Lakshadweep                 |                                                                                          0    |
|       19 | Puducherry                  |                                                                                          0    |

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