(a) whether incidents of illegal felling of trees by forest mafia are rising in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the penal provisions pertaining to illegal felling of trees;
(c) the number of violations of the said provisions during the last three years, State-wise; and
(d) the action taken by the Government in this regard during the last three years and the outcome thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)
(a)to (d) Protection and management of forests and trees is primarily the responsibility of the States and Union Territories (UTs). Whenever any incidents of illegal felling of trees are noticed or reported, the concerned State Governments/UTAdministration initiates action as per the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, various Acts of State/UT and the rules and regulations made thereunder.
No reports regarding rise in the incidents of illegal felling of trees by forest mafia have been received in the Ministry. However, sporadic incidents of tree felling do take place, wherein, action is taken by the respective State Governments/UTAdministration as per the extant laws, rules and regulations. The information regarding illegal felling of trees is not compiled at the level of the Ministry.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change provides financial assistance to the States and UTs for protection and management of forests under Centrally Sponsored Schemes such as Forest Fire Protection and Management Scheme, Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitat, etc. The aim is to supplement the efforts of the States and UTs towards protection and management of forests.
Forest Cover assessment for the country is carried out every two years by Forest Surveyof India and the findings are published as India State of Forest Report (ISFR). Based on last three ISFRs (ISFR 2015, ISFR 2017 and ISFR 2019), there is an overall increase of 10,754 square kilometre in the forest cover in the country.
****