(a) the area of the land covered by their forests in the country, State-wise;
(b) the schemes of the Union Government to convert thin forests into dense forests;
(c) whether any schemes for the development of thin forests have been received from various States by the Union Government during the last three years and current year;
(d) if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
(e) by when these schemes will be cleared by the Union Government ?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)
(a) The state-wise forest cover in the country as per the State of Forest Report, 2001, published by the Forest Survey of India is given in Annexure-I.
(b) Ministry of Environment and Forests is implementing National Afforestation Programme for development of forests in the country through the mechanism of Forest Development Agencies (FDAs).
(c), (d), and (e) There is general demand from most of the states for central assistance for development and protection of forests. Under National Afforestation Programme 561 FDA projects have been approved out of a total of 660 projects received from the States. The state-wise figures of FDA project proposals received and approved are given in Annexure-II. Efforts are made to meet the demands of States to the extent possible, keeping in view the budget available with the Ministry.
Annexure I
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3137 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 20.12.04 REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF THIN FOREST COVER
State/UT-wise forest cover as per State of Forest Report 2001
(Area in Km2)
State/UT Geographic Forest Cover Area Total Percent
Andhra Pradesh 275,069 44,637 16.23 Arunachal Pradesh 83,743 68,045 81.25 Assam 78,438 27,714 35.33 Bihar 94,163 5,720 6.07 Chhatisgarh 135,191 56,448 41.75 Delhi 1,483 111 7.51 Goa 3,702 2,095 56.59 Gujarat 196,022 15,152 7.73 Haryana 44,212 1,754 3.97 Himachal Pradesh 55,673 14,360 25.79 Jammu & Kashmir 222,236 21,327 9.56 Jharkhand 79,714 22,637 28.40 Karnataka 191,791 36,991 19.29 Kerala 38,863 15,560 40.04 Madhya Pradesh 308,245 77,265 25.07 Maharashtra 307,713 47,482 15.43 Manipur 22,327 16,926 75.81 Meghalaya 22,429 15,584 69.48 Mizoram 21,081 17,494 82.98 Nagaland 16,579 13,345 80.49 Orissa 155,707 48,838 31.36 Punjab 50,362 2,432 4.83 Rajasthan 342,239 16,367 4.78 Sikkim 7,096 3,193 45.00 Tamil Nadu 130,058 21,482 16.52 Tripura 10,486 7,065 67.38 Uttar Pradesh 240,928 13,746 5.71 Uttaranchal 53,483 23,938 44.76 West Bengal 88,752 10,693 12.05 A&N Islands 8,249 6,930 84.01 Chandigarh 114 9 7.51 Dadra & N. Haveli 491 219 44.60 Daman & Diu 112 6 5.53 Lakshdweep 32 27 85.91 Pondicherry 480 36 7.45
Total 3,287,263 675,538 20.55
Annexure II
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c), (d), (e) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3137 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 20.12.04 REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF THIN FOREST COVER
Sl. No. Name of State/UT No. of FDA Project No. of FDA Project proposals received proposals sanctioned upto 30.11.2004 upto 30.11.2004
1 Haryana 15 15 2 Orissa 29 28 3 Jammu & Kashmir 31 31 4 Uttar Pradesh 61 56 5 Himachal Pradesh 26 25 6 Uttaranchal 30 28 7 Punjab 9 4 8 Bihar 9 6 9 Gujarat 15 13 10 Jharkhand 27 26 11 Maharashtra 41 38 12 Rajasthan 14 13 13 Tamil Nadu 32 31 14 West Bengal 20 14 15 Andhra Pradesh 32 24 16 Chhattisgarh 27 26 17 Goa 3 3 18 Karnataka 41 35 19 Kerala 25 14 20 Madhya Pradesh 42 30 21 Arunachal Pradesh 16 13 22 Assam 28 17 23 Manipur 12 11 24 Meghalaya 7 7 25 Mizoram 30 19 26 Nagaland 18 16 27 Sikkim 7 7 28 Tripura 13 11
Total 660 561