Lok Sabha Question No. 330 (STARRED), answered on 2015-12-22
Subject: Forest Cover
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA

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

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO.  330* TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.12.2015

## Forest Cover

## *330.   SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA:

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

- (a) the area under forest cover during the last three and the current Five Year Plan period, plan-wise;
- (b) whether  there  is  any  norm  regarding  ratio  of  population  to  forest  area  for  ecological balance/good environment in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the ranking of the country and States as per international norms; and
- (d) the details of plans/schemes drawn for the development/expansion of forest area in the country along with the funds made available and utilised during the last three years?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## Statement referred to in reply to part (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 330 by Shri Bhairon Prasad Mishra due for reply on 22.12.2015.

- (a) The  Forest  Survey  of  India  has  been  carrying  out  the  assessment  of  forest  cover  on biennial basis since 1987 using remote sensing technology. The findings are published in the India State of Forest Report latest being India State of Forest Report 2015. The total forest  cover  and  percentage thereof  as per previous three Reports of Forest Survey of India are given as under:-
- (b) There is no norm regarding ratio of population to forest area for ecological balance/good environment in the country. However, the National Forest Policy, 1988 (NFP) aims to have a minimum of one third of the total land area of the country under forest or tree cover.
- (c) As  per  the  Global  Forest  Resources  Assessment  2015  (GFRA)  recently  launched  in September, 2015, India is one of the top ten countries in world by forest area. However, there is no such ranking for the States.
- (d) For  development/expansion  of  forest  area  in  the  country,  afforestation Programme  is  taken  up  under  various  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  such  as  National Afforestation Programme (NAP), Green India Mission (GIM), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme  (IWMP)  which  from  2015-16  has  been  amalgamated  as  the  Watershed Development Component of the 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)'. National Bamboo  Mission (NBM)  and under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), different State Plan/ Non- Plan Schemes including  Externally  Aided  Projects.  National  Afforestation  Programme  (NAP)  of  the Ministry  of  Environment  &  Forests  is  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  afforestation and  tree  plantation  and  eco-restoration  of  degraded  forests  and  adjoining  areas  in  the country. The Scheme is being implemented through a decentralized mechanism 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 levels. Since inception of this programme an amount of Rs. 3545 crore has been invested to treat an area of 20.99 lakh hectare till 2014-15. The State-wise details of fund released under  National  Afforestation  Programme  during  last  three  years  and  current  year  are given in Annexure I .

|   S. No. |   Year | Total Forest Cover (in Square Kilometer)   |   Percentage of the forest cover to the total Geographical area |
|----------|--------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 |   2011 | 6,92,027                                   |                                                           21.05 |
|        2 |   2013 | 6,97,898                                   |                                                           21.23 |
|        3 |   2015 | 7,01,673                                   |                                                           21.34 |

Further, the Green India Mission aims at increasing the forest/ tree cover by 5 million hectare as well as, increasing the quality of the existing forest cover in another 5 million hectare. The Ministry has released Rs.4994.55 lakhs and 1265.50 lakhs to the States in the financial year 2011-12 and 2013-14 for preparatory activities for implementation of Green  India  Mission.  The  activities  undertaken  by  the  State  Governments  under preparatory phase include institutional strengthening, training, identification of landscapes  and  preparation  of  Perspective  Plan  for  implementation  of  Green  India Mission.  The  Year-wise  and  State-wise  details  of  allocation  of  funds  are  given  in Annexure-II.

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## Annexure referred to in reply to part (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 330 due for answer on 22-12-2015 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Details of funds released during last three years and current year under National Afforestation Programme Scheme

( Rs. in Crore)

| S. No.   | States               |   2012-13 |   2013-14 |   2014-15 | 2015-16 Till 10.12.2015   |
|----------|----------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh       |      2.71 |      3.75 |      4.56 |                           |
| 2        | Bihar                |      3.4  |     12.84 |      7    | 2.09                      |
| 3        | Chhattisgarh         |     13.33 |     21.38 |     20    | 4.19                      |
| 4        | Goa                  |      0    |      0    |      0    |                           |
| 5        | Gujarat              |     14.3  |     11.68 |     10.5  | 6.99                      |
| 6        | Haryana              |      6.41 |     17.94 |     11    | 0.72                      |
| 7        | Himachal Pradesh     |      3.62 |      2.61 |      0.73 |                           |
| 8        | Jammu &Kashmir       |      3.37 |      8.11 |      3.59 |                           |
| 9        | Jharkhand            |      4.69 |      9.02 |      8.6  |                           |
| 10       | Karnataka            |      6.81 |      9.26 |     21.35 |                           |
| 11       | Kerala               |     11.3  |      6.99 |      2.82 | 1.02                      |
| 12       | Madhya Pradesh       |      9.15 |     22.1  |     21    | 3.55                      |
| 13       | Maharashtra          |     28.87 |     32.33 |     35    | 9.34                      |
| 14       | Odhisa               |      3.38 |      5.36 |     17.92 | 9.49                      |
| 15       | Punjab               |      0.76 |      2    |      1.87 |                           |
| 16       | Rajasthan            |      4.14 |      2.81 |      3.35 |                           |
| 17       | Tamil Nadu           |      2.78 |      3.21 |      4.25 | 1.42                      |
| 18       | Telangana            |      0    |      0    |      2.03 |                           |
| 19       | Uttar Pradesh        |     15.27 |     20.15 |     12    | 1.58                      |
| 20       | Uttarakhand          |      6.25 |      6.01 |      2.5  | 1.36                      |
| 21       | West Bengal          |      2.57 |      2.96 |      0.78 |                           |
|          | Total (Other States) |    143.11 |    200.49 |    190.85 | 41.75                     |
| 22       | Arunachal Pradesh    |      1.66 |      0    |      0.15 |                           |
| 23       | Assam                |      1.47 |      2.99 |      0    | 2.56                      |
| 24       | Manipur              |      9.46 |     12.12 |      8    | 3.67                      |
| 25       | Meghalaya            |      9.1  |      4.5  |      3.61 |                           |
| 26       | Mizoram              |      8.78 |     11.94 |     15    | 9.09                      |
| 27       | Nagaland             |     10.88 |      9.82 |     11    |                           |
| 28       | Sikkim               |      5.42 |      3.77 |      6    | 1.52                      |
| 29       | Tripura              |      3.5  |     11.99 |      9.17 | 1.80                      |
|          | Total (NE States)    |     50.26 |     57.13 |     52.93 | 18.65                     |
|          | G. Total             |    193.37 |    257.62 |    243.78 | 60.40                     |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 330 due for answer on 22-12-2015 regarding 'Forest Cover'

## Details of funds released to the State Governments for preparatory activities under Green India Mission.

(Rs. in Lakhs)

| Sl. No.   | State             |   Financial Year 2011- 12 | Financial Year 2012-13   |   Financial Year 2013-14 |
|-----------|-------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh    |                     89.53 | -                        |                     0    |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |                      0    | -                        |                   127    |
| 3         | Assam             |                    130    | -                        |                     0    |
| 4         | Bihar             |                      0    | -                        |                   224.85 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |                    972    | -                        |                     0    |
| 6         | Gujarat           |                    133.8  | -                        |                     0    |
| 7         | Haryana           |                    357    | -                        |                     0    |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh  |                    126.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 9         | Jammu &Kashmir    |                     64    | -                        |                     0    |
| 10        | Jharkhand         |                    147    | -                        |                     0    |
| 11        | Karnataka         |                    267.45 | -                        |                     0    |
| 12        | Kerala            |                    194.6  | -                        |                     0    |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh    |                    823.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 14        | Maharashtra       |                    405.77 | -                        |                     0    |
| 15        | Manipur           |                     40.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 16        | Meghalaya         |                      0    | -                        |                    89.7  |
| 17        | Mizoram           |                      0    | -                        |                   223.65 |
| 18        | Nagaland          |                    141.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 19        | Odisha            |                    107.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 20        | Punjab            |                    125.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 21        | Rajasthan         |                    275.25 | -                        |                     0    |
| 22        | Sikkim            |                      0    | -                        |                   299.55 |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu        |                     72.15 | -                        |                     0    |
| 24        | Tripura           |                    350.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 25        | Uttar Pradesh     |                    119.5  | -                        |                     0    |
| 26        | Uttarakhand       |                     51    | -                        |                     0    |
| 27        | West Bengal       |                      0    | -                        |                   300.75 |
|           | TOTAL             |                   4994.55 | -                        |                  1265.5  |