(a) whether some reserved areas are set up in each State for maintaining forest land in required quantity in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the area of land under the reserved areas, in each State of the country by the end of March, 2014; and
(d) the percentage of this land as compared to the total area of land of that State?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a)& (b) As per the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and respective Forest Act as applicable in a particular State or Union Territory, the concerned State Government/ Union Territory have been empowered to notify the forest land as reserve forest. Accordingly, Reserved Forests have been notified by various States and Union Territories. The other categories of forests include protected forests, village forests and unclassed forests.
(c) As per the India State of Forest Report, 2013, details of Reserved Forest areas in States/UTs are given in the Annexure.
(d) As per the India State of Forest Report, 2013, the Reserved Forest area constitutes 425,494 sq. km which is 12.94 percent of the geographical area of the country.