Lok Sabha Question No. 3118 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-04
Subject: Degradation of Land
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: KIRRON KHER

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF LAND RESOURCES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3118 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.08.2016

## Degradation of Land

## 3118 SHRIMATI KIRRON KHER:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that approximately 45% of country's land is degraded primarily due  to  deforestation,  unsustainable  agricultural  practices,  mining  and  excessive ground  water  extraction,  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof,  State/UT-wise  including Chandigarh and Punjab;
- (b) whether this land can be regenerated by afforestation, etc., and if so, the details of the methods adopted in this regard; and
- (c)  the details of land that have been regenerated so far, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV)

(a), (b) & (c) There is no centralized data base or information available in the Ministry to  indicate  that  45%  of  country's  land  is  degraded  due  to  deforestation,  unsustainable agricultural  practices,  mining  and  excessive  ground  water  extraction,  though  it  is recognized that these factors can to lead to degradation of lands.

As  per  information  received  from  National  Afforestation  &  Eco-  Development Board  (NAEB),  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forests  and  Climate  Change,  NAEB  is implementing  a  National  Afforestation  Programme  (NAP)  for  afforestation  and  ecorestoration of degraded forests. The scheme is implemented in participatory mode under Joint Forest Management (JFM) approach.  Under NAP, an area of 21.36 lakh hectare has  been  treated  with  an  investment  of  Rs.3639.28  crore,  since  the  inception  of  the programme  in  2000-01  to  2015-16.The  State  wise  details  of  area  approved  for  the afforestation and corresponding funds released are given at Annexure-I.

Further, the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development has also been implementing an area development programme namely Integrated Watershed Management  Programme  (IWMP)  with  effect  from  26.02.2009,  for  development  of rainfed/degraded areas.  The major activities taken up under  IWMP inter  alia include ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rain water harvesting, nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture, pasture development, livelihood activities for the asset-less persons. The Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)  has  now  been  amalgamated  as  the  Watershed  Component  of  the  Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) with effect from 2015-16.

As  on  30.06.2016,  a  total  of  8214  watershed  projects  have  been  sanctioned covering an area of 39.07 million ha and an amount of Rs.12821.66 crore released as Central assistance to various States under the aforesaid scheme. The State-wise details of  project  sanctioned,  area  covered,  total  project  cost  and  funds  released  under  the programme are given at Annexure-II .

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a), (b) & ( c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3118 due for reply on 04.08.2016

The State wise details of Approved  Advanced Work area  and funds released  under National Afforestation Programme (NAP)

(Area in ha. & Rs. in crore)

| S.No.   | Name of the State    | Total Area   | Total Funds released   |
|---------|----------------------|--------------|------------------------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh       | 83945        | 122.19                 |
| 2       | Bihar                | 44714        | 74.78                  |
| 3       | Chhattisgarh         | 134221       | 281.42                 |
| 4       | Goa                  | 1250         | 0.64                   |
| 5       | Gujarat              | 108214       | 228.83                 |
| 6       | Haryana              | 57083        | 174.77                 |
| 7       | Himachal Pradesh     | 53690        | 72.64                  |
| 8       | Jammu &Kashmir       | 78703        | 81.23                  |
| 9       | Jharkhand            | 109214       | 159.56                 |
| 10      | Karnataka            | 116108       | 217.34                 |
| 11      | Kerala               | 40658        | 77.28                  |
| 12      | Madhya Pradesh       | 166677       | 256.50                 |
| 13      | Maharashtra          | 149613       | 290.48                 |
| 14      | Odisha               | 146117       | 160.64                 |
| 15      | Punjab               | 21709        | 27.0                   |
| 16      | Rajasthan            | 56115        | 71.69                  |
| 17      | Tamil Nadu           | 77320        | 123.68                 |
| 18      | Telangana            | 795          | 2.03                   |
| 19      | Uttar Pradesh        | 168422       | 290.88                 |
| 20      | Uttarakhand          | 81027        | 101.24                 |
| 21      | West Bengal          | 47598        | 62.89                  |
|         | North-Eastern States |              |                        |
| 22      | Arunachal Pradesh    | 34446        | 33.02                  |
| 23      | Assam                | 56280        | 86.56                  |
| 24      | Manipur              | 51328        | 111.16                 |
| 25      | Meghalaya            | 32975        | 57.56                  |
| 26      | Mizoram              | 64630        | 178.24                 |
| 27      | Nagaland             | 62758        | 116.28                 |
| 28      | Sikkim               | 34878        | 94.47                  |
| 29      | Tripura              | 55215        | 84.30                  |
|         | Grand Total          | 2135703      | 3639.28                |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a), (b) & ( c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3118 due for reply on 04.08.2016

State wise details of projects and area sanctioned and funds released under PMKSY-Watershed Development Component

(Area in million ha. & Rs. in crore)

| S.No.   | State             |   Total no. of Project |   Area of the projects | Total project cost   |   Funds released up to 30.06.2016 ( Central Share) |
|---------|-------------------|------------------------|------------------------|----------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    |                    432 |                  1.81  | 2290.00              |                                             786.55 |
| 12 2    | Arunachal Pradesh |                    156 |                  0.467 | 701.48               |                                             192.42 |
| 3       | Assam             |                    372 |                  1.577 | 1946.11              |                                             322.44 |
| 3 4     | Bihar             |                    123 |                  0.612 | 841.53               |                                              57.07 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh      |                    263 |                  1.195 | 1517.87              |                                             716.04 |
| 6       | Gujarat           |                    610 |                  3.103 | 4022.19              |                                             991.67 |
| 7       | Haryana           |                     88 |                  0.362 | 437.25               |                                              64.94 |
| 8       | Himachal Pradesh  |                    163 |                  0.84  | 1259.94              |                                             197.31 |
| 9       | Jammu &Kashmir    |                    159 |                  0.652 | 979.73               |                                              89.7  |
| 10      | Jharkhand         |                    171 |                  0.911 | 1142.70              |                                             145.01 |
| 11      | Karnataka         |                    571 |                  2.569 | 3324.45              |                                            1450.46 |
| 12      | Kerala            |                     83 |                  0.423 | 589.54               |                                              67.17 |
| 13      | Madhya Pradesh    |                    517 |                  2.937 | 3568.11              |                                             983.18 |
| 14      | Maharashtra       |                   1186 |                  5.128 | 6517.49              |                                            1784.46 |
| 15      | Manipur           |                    102 |                  0.491 | 735.13               |                                             109.83 |
| 16      | Meghalaya         |                     96 |                  0.236 | 751.99               |                                             145.83 |
| 17      | Mizoram           |                     89 |                  0.373 | 560.87               |                                             214.4  |
| 18      | Nagaland          |                    111 |                  0.476 | 714.91               |                                             367.87 |
| 19      | Odisha            |                    310 |                  1.7   | 2191.50              |                                             669.45 |
| 20      | Punjab            |                     67 |                  0.314 | 377.61               |                                              52.46 |
| 21      | Rajasthan         |                   1025 |                  5.764 | 7892.61              |                                            1673.33 |
| 22      | Sikkim            |                     15 |                  0.066 | 98.07                |                                              20.68 |
| 23      | Tamil Nadu        |                    270 |                  1.368 | 1643.19              |                                             689.24 |
| 24      | Telangana         |                    330 |                  1.399 | 1742.27              |                                             459.94 |
| 25      | Tripura           |                     65 |                  0.213 | 320.31               |                                             140.54 |
| 26      | Uttarakhand       |                     65 |                  0.346 | 492.88               |                                             149.74 |
| 27      | Uttar Pradesh     |                    612 |                  3.045 | 3583.70              |                                             686.18 |
| 28      | West Bengal       |                    163 |                  0.693 | 896.16               |                                             116.28 |
| 29      | Total             |                   8214 |                 39.07  | 00.95.05             |                                           12821.7  |

Note: 1) The programme is not operational in Union Territories.

- 2) There is no sanctioned project in Goa.