Lok Sabha Question No. 17 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-07-21
Subject: Shrinking Green Area
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: RAJESHBHAI NARANBHAI CHUDASAMA, PRATHAP SIMHA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 17

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2015

## Shrinking Green Area

## 17. SHRI RAJESHBHAI CHUDASAMA: SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA:

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

- (a) whether the ambit of green area has been shrinking due to increase in urbanisation and construction of residential and commercial buildings in the country;
- (b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (c) whether the Government has any policy/scheme or is considering such a policy scheme to save the trees and green area from rapid increase of urbanisation and construction work and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) & (b) Forest Survey of India, Dehradun is carrying out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially and the findings are published in India State of Forest Report . India State  of  Forest  Report  2013  is  the  latest  in  the  series.  As  per  India  State  of  Forest Report-2013, there  is  an  overall  net  increase  of  5871  square  kilometers  in  the  forest cover of the country as compared with India State of Forest Report-2011. The details showing  forest  cover  and  change  in  forest  cover  in  States/UTs  wise  is  given  in Annexure .
- (c) The  management  and  protection  of  forest  area  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of concerned  State/UT  Governments.  However,  there  are  Central  Acts  such  as  Indian Forest  Act,  1927,  Forest  (Conservation)  Act,  1980  and  State  Acts/Rules  to  deal  with issues related to protection and management of forest areas. Under Indian Forest Act, 1927 and State Specific Tree Preservation Act, felling of trees without permission from Competent Authority is a punishable offence. Use of forest land for non-forest purpose require prior approval of Central Government under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

As  per the Landuse  Classification in  Urban  and Regional  Development  Plans Formulation  and  Implementations  (URDPFI)  Guidelines,  2014,  forests  are  normally covered under 'Recreational' use. For prescribing norms, forests are classified under 'Open  Spaces'  whereas  Parks/Playgrounds  are  classified  as  'Organized  Green'.  In order to conserve and protect the forests in and around the cities and towns, the State Governments need to adhere to the Norms prescribed in the URDPFI Guidelines, 2014.

Further,  afforestation  in  the  country  is  taken  up  under  various  Centrally  Sponsored Schemes such as National Afforestation Programme (NAP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management  Programme  (IWMP),  National  Bamboo  Mission  (NBM)  and  under Compensatory  Afforestation  Fund  Management  and  Planning  Authority  (CAMPA), 13th Finance  Commission  Grant,  different  State  Plan/  Non-  Plan  Schemes  including externally aided projects. National Afforestation Programme (NAP) of the Ministry of Environment & Forests is a 100% 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.

The  Ministry  also  provides  Grants-in-aid  to  State  Governments  to  supplement  the efforts  of  the  States  for  forest  management and  protection. Funds  are being provided under Intensification Forest Management Scheme (IFMS). These funds are utilized for patrolling of the forests, establishment of camps, building fire watch towers, creation and maintenance of fire lines, forest fire control, survey and demarcation of forest areas and strengthening forest infrastructure.

**********

## Annexure

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 17 due for answer on 21-07-2015 regarding 'Shrinking Green Area'

## Change in Forest Cover in States/UTs in India as per India State of Forest Report (ISFR)- 2013

(Area in square kilometers)

| States/UTs          |   Geographical Area |   Total Forest Cover 2013 |   Total Forest Cover 2011 |   Change in Forest Cover |
|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh      |              275069 |                     46116 |                     46389 |                     -273 |
| Arunachal Pradesh   |               83743 |                     67321 |                     67410 |                      -89 |
| Assam               |               78438 |                     27671 |                     27673 |                       -2 |
| Bihar               |               94163 |                      7291 |                      6845 |                      446 |
| Chhattisgarh        |              135191 |                     55621 |                     55674 |                      -53 |
| Delhi               |                1483 |                    179.81 |                     176.2 |                     3.61 |
| Goa                 |                3702 |                      2219 |                      2219 |                        0 |
| Gujarat             |              196022 |                     14653 |                     14619 |                       34 |
| Haryana             |               44212 |                      1586 |                      1608 |                      -22 |
| Himachal Pradesh    |               55673 |                     14683 |                     14679 |                        4 |
| Jammu &Kashmir      |              222236 |                     22538 |                     22539 |                       -1 |
| Jharkhand           |               79714 |                     23473 |                     22977 |                      496 |
| Karnataka           |              191791 |                     36132 |                     36194 |                      -62 |
| Kerala              |               38863 |                     17922 |                     17300 |                      622 |
| Madhya Pradesh      |              308245 |                     77522 |                     77700 |                     -178 |
| Maharashtra         |              307713 |                     50632 |                     50646 |                      -14 |
| Manipur             |               22327 |                     16990 |                     17090 |                     -100 |
| Meghalaya           |               22429 |                     17288 |                     17275 |                       13 |
| Mizoram             |               21081 |                     19054 |                     19117 |                      -63 |
| Nagaland            |               16579 |                     13044 |                     13318 |                     -274 |
| Odisha              |              155707 |                     50347 |                     48903 |                     1444 |
| Punjab              |               50362 |                      1772 |                      1764 |                        8 |
| Rajasthan           |              342239 |                     16086 |                     16087 |                       -1 |
| Sikkim              |                7096 |                      3358 |                      3359 |                       -1 |
| Tamil Nadu          |              130058 |                     23844 |                     23625 |                      219 |
| Tripura             |               10486 |                      7866 |                      7977 |                     -111 |
| Uttar Pradesh       |              240928 |                     14349 |                     14338 |                       11 |
| Uttarakhand         |               53483 |                     24508 |                     24496 |                       12 |
| West Bengal         |               88752 |                     16805 |                     12995 |                     3810 |
| Andaman& Nicobar    |                8249 |                      6711 |                      6724 |                      -13 |
| Chandigarh          |                 114 |                     17.26 |                        17 |                     0.26 |
| Dadra &Nagar Haveli |                 491 |                       213 |                       211 |                        2 |
| Daman &Diu          |                 112 |                      9.27 |                         6 |                     3.27 |
| Lakshadweep         |                  32 |                     27.06 |                        27 |                     0.06 |
| Puducherry          |                 480 |                     50.06 |                        50 |                     0.06 |
| Grand Total         |             3287263 |                    697898 |                    692027 |                     5871 |