78,000 ha forest land diverted for non-forest use in 4 yrs: Government
NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday informed Rajya Sabha that over 78,000 hectare of forest land was approved for diversion across India for non-forest use (various projects) in the past four years and the country undertook plantations in over 93.7 lakh hectare of land in the past five years under various schemes.
Data shared by the environment ministry in response to a Parliament question showed that Madhya Pradesh accounted for the highest area of forest land approved for diversion at 17,393 hectare for various development projects, followed by Odisha (11,033 hectare), Arunachal Pradesh (6,561 hectare), Uttar Pradesh (5,480 hectare) and Chhattisgarh (4,092 hectare).
In response to a separate question, ministry shared that Uttar Pradesh led the country by conducting plantations in over 23.5 lakh hectare from 2020-21 to 2024-25, followed by Telangana (15.5 lakh hectare) and Gujarat (11.4 lakh hectare).
The other major contributors included Odisha (5 lakh hectare), Andhra Pradesh (5.9 lakh hectare), Rajasthan (3.8 lakh hectare) and Madhya Pradesh (4 lakh hectare).
Responding to the question, junior minister for environment Kirti Vardhan Singh in his response said the government is currently carrying out afforestation and tree plantation under the overarching theme of the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign launched on June 5, 2024.
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The minister said afforestation is being implemented through existing schemes such as National Mission for Green India, Nagar Van Yojana, Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitat and Tangible Benefits, and Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (Campa), along with specific state-funded programmes.
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