Summary:
DEHRADUN: In the last five years, 54,648 hectares of forest land was diverted for over 2,988 development projects across the country . A simple calculation of five years tells us that every year, Uttarakhand lost around 570 hectares of forest land.” Of this, 2,850 hectares of forest land was diverted to 255 development projects in Uttarakhand in the period between January 1, 2015 and February 5, 2019.The details were part of a parliamentary question answered by the minister of state for environment, forest and climate change, Mahesh Sharma, in the Lok Sabha on Friday. In lieu of the land, money is collected by the government which is then used by the authorities for afforestation.Meanwhile, reacting to the deforestation done in Uttarakhand, which has over 70% forest cover, Dehradun-based social activist Udit Ghildiyal said, “The land size allotted to the number of projects presents a grim picture of how development is taking a toll on the forest cover of our state. The question was asked by Om Birla, BJP MP from Kota, who sought details of deforestation due to development projects.According to the minister’s response, the maximum forest land diverted was in Madhya Pradesh where 12,785 hectares was diverted to 241 development projects, followed by Telangana, with 9,420 hectares.Among other states that witnessed huge forest land diversion were Andhra Pradesh with 3,474 hectares, Chhattisgarh with 3,793 hectares, Gujarat with 2,009 hectares, Haryana with 1529 hectares, Maharashtra with 3,797 hectares, Odisha with 4,968 hectares, Punjab with 1,524 hectares, and Rajasthan with 2,834 hectares.Under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, forest areas can be diverted by the environment ministry for non-forestry purposes like mining..