Question : ENCROACHMENT ON FOREST LAND



(a) whether the Government is aware of encroachments and illegal constructions on reserved forest land particularly on Government forest land;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the steps taken by the Government to remove such encroachments?

Answer given by the minister


MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a)&(b) Forest areas do have encroachments and the State/UT wise details of the forest area under encroachments are given in Annexure.

(c) Protection and Management of Forests is primarily the responsibility of the concerned State/UT Government and hence the action to remove encroachment is taken as per the provisions of various acts such as Indian Forest Act, 1927; Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and various rules & regulations thereof. The information on action taken for removal of encroachments by the States/UTs is not compiled at the Ministry level.

Further, to prevent encroachments various measures are taken such as check posts, buildings for frontline staff, use of modern technology that includes wireless network, remote sensing, Geographical Information System, Information Technology, use of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Differential GPS, improved mobility to the field staff by providing vehicles for patrolling, survey and demarcation of forest areas including digitization of recorded forest areas and construction of boundary pillars etc.

In addition to the above, the State/UT Governments take various steps for protection of the forest areas which include patrolling, strengthening of the check posts/barriers and involvement of Joint Forest Management Committees in preventing encroachment on forest land.

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