(a) the details of barren land in the country, State/UT-wise;
(b) whether the Government has taken steps to make such land fertile;
(c) if so, the details thereof and the details of land made cultivable during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
(d) whether the land becomes barren after mining work in various mining areas; and
(e) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to check the scheme?
MINISTER FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI BIRENDER SINGH)
(a)to ( c):As per the information of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture,the extent of barren and unculturable land in the country is 17284 thousand hectare. The State/UT- wise details are given in Annexure. As theBarren &Unculturable land includes all land covered by mountains, deserts etc., which cannot be brought under cultivation except at an exorbitant cost, there is no scheme/programme exclusively to covert barren land into cultivable land.
However,the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development had been implementing an area development programme namely the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) with effect from 2009-10 for development of rainfed/degraded areas including wastelands in the country. The major activities taken up under IWMP inter alia include ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rain water harvesting, nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture, pasture development, livelihoods for assetless persons. As on 31.03.2015, the Department of Land Resources has sanctioned 8214 projects covering an area of 39.07 million ha and released Rs.11032.20 crore as Central Share under IWMP in all the States of the country except Goa. The erstwhile IWMP has been amalgamated as watershed component of the new scheme called PradhanMantriKrishiSinchayeeYojana (PMKSY) w.e.f. 2015-16.
(d) and (e):As per the information of Ministry of Mines,the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules (MCDR), 1988 framed under section 18 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, have provisions for restoration and rehabilitation of mining areas. As per rule 23A of MCDR, 1988, every mine shall have a progressive mine closure plan and a final mine closure plan. The “progressive mine closure plan” means a progressive plan, for the purpose of providing protective, reclamation and rehabilitation measures in a mine. The “final mine closure plan” means a plan for the purpose of decommissioning, reclamation and rehabilitation in the mine or part thereof after cessation of mining and mineral processing operations.As per rule 23 (5) of MCDR, 1988, the leaseholder shall not abandon a mine unless a final mine closure plan is implemented. For this purpose, the lessee shall be required to obtain a certificate from the Regional Controller of Mines of Indian Bureau of Mines (an attached office of the Ministry of Mines) or the officer authorized by the State Government in this behalf to the effect that protective, reclamation and rehabilitation work in accordance with the final mine closure plan have been carried out before abandonment of mine.
Further, as per rule 23F (5) of MCDR, 1988, if the reclamation and rehabilitation measures as envisaged in the approved mine closure plan, in respect of which a financial assurance is given, have not been carried out in accordance with the mine closure plan, the financial assurance can be forfeited.The restoration and rehabilitation work of mining areas is a continuous process and details in this regard are not maintained centrally.
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Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply to part (a)of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1633 due for reply on 30.07.2015
State/UT wisearea of Barren &Unculturable land(thousand hectares)
Sl. No. State/UT Area of Barren &Unculturable land*
1 Andhra Pradesh 1959
2 Arunachal Pradesh 38
3 Assam 1408
4 Bihar 432
5 Chhattisgarh 290
6 Delhi 16
7 Goa
8 Gujarat 2552
9 Haryana 101
10 Himachal Pradesh 779
11 Jammu & Kashmir 306
12 Jharkhand 572
13 Karnataka 787
14 Kerala 16
15 Madhya Pradesh 1387
16 Maharashtra 1722
17 Manipur 1
18 Meghalaya 132
19 Mizoram 8
20 Nagaland 2
21 Odisha 1104
22 Punjab 51
23 Rajasthan 2411
24 Sikkim
25 Tamil Nadu 489
26 Tripura
27 Uttarakhand 228
28 Uttar Pradesh 479
29 West Bengal 13
30 Andaman &Nikobar Islands 2
31 Chandigarh
32 D&N Haveli 0
33 Daman & Diu
34 Lakshadweep
35 Pondicherry 0
Total 17284
Source: Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Deptt. ofAgriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, New Delhi)
* Provisional
Note: 0 relates to the area below 500 hectares.