India Continues to Lose Forest Land to Non-Forestry Projects
India Continues to Lose Forest Land to Non-Forestry Projects
- Recently an annual report released by Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
- As per the report, the diversion of forest land for other purposes continued throughout India.
- Between January 1 and November 6,2019, a total 11,467.83 hectares forest land was diverted in 22 states.
- The diversion was for 932 non-forestry projects under the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA) , 1980.
Overview
- 4,514 hectares (i.e.. more than a third of diverted land) was for 14 projects in Odisha.
- 2.055 hectares were diverted for 11 projects in Telangana
- 869.99 hectares diverted for 11 projects in Jharkhand.
- The largest number of projects belonged to Haryana with 251 projects leading to diversion of 519.53 hectares.
- Madhya Pradesh diverted 795.36 hectares for 220 projects.
- Category wise division was also given in the report-
- Irrigation and mining projects accounted for the diversion of largest area.
- 4,287.50 hectares were diverted for 24 irrigation projects.
- 3,846.09 hectares were diverted for 22 mining projects.
- 1,487.82 hectares were diverted for 227 road construction projects.
- The report also said that the guidelines have been issued for encouraging voluntary relocation of villages to forest fringe areas from the core areas of
- National parks
- Wildlife sanctuaries
- Tiger reserves
State | Number of Projects | Total Forest land approved for diversion (in ha) |
Goa | 1 | 0.93 |
Mizoram | 1 | 23.69 |
Uttar Pradesh | 1 | 63.27 |
Chhattisgarh | 1 | 207.99 |
Kerala | 2 | 0.26 |
Tripura | 2 | 1.8 |
West Bengal | 2 | 102.33 |
Maharashtra | 2 | 151.81 |
Andhra Pradesh | 3 | 37.82 |
Tamil Nadu | 6 | 18.45 |
Karnataka | 11 | 162.61 |
Jharkhand | 11 | 869.99 |
Telangana | 11 | 2055.05 |
Odisha | 14 | 4514 |
Rajasthan | 27 | 370.34 |
Bihar | 28 | 453.43 |
Himachal Pradesh | 52 | 434.36 |
Uttarakhand | 64 | 159.74 |
Gujarat | 99 | 114.01 |
Punjab | 122 | 411.07 |
Madhya Pradesh | 220 | 795.36 |
Haryana | 251 | 519.53 |
✍Examrace Team at Aug 20, 2021