Over 13,000 sq km of forest area, which, to put in perspective, is more than the total geographical area of Delhi, Sikkim, and Goa combined, is under encroachment in 23 states and Union Territories.
According to Union Environment Ministry’s report, Madhya Pradesh had the highest forest encroachment among all states and UTs, with 5,460.9 sq km affected as of March 2024. Assam has 3,620.9 sq km of forest area under encroachment.
Ten states are yet to submit data on forest encroachments.
Last year, the National Green Tribunal took suo motu cognizance of a PTI report that cited government data showing that 7,50,648 hectares (or 7,506.48 sq km) of forest area was encroached in India. This is more than five times the size of Delhi.
In April last year, the NGT had directed the ministry to compile the details of encroachment of forest areas in all states and Union Territories in a prescribed format.
In a report submitted to the NGT last week, the ministry said that as of March 2024, a total of 13,05,668.1 hectares or 13,056 sq km of forest area was under encroachment in 23 states and union territories that have provided data so far.
States and Records
These states and UTs are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadar and Nagar and Daman and Diu, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur.
States and UTs, which are yet to submit the data and details on forest encroachment, are Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, Nagaland, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Forest area or The Recorded Forest Area includes land officially designated as forest by the government, even if it does not have tree cover. RFA is further divided into three categories: reserved forests, which have full protection, with activities like hunting and grazing generally banned. Protected forests, where some activities are allowed unless specifically restricted and unclassed forests, which are not classified as reserved or protected.
This is different from forest cover which refers to the actual area with tree canopy with more than 1 hectare with tree canopy density of at least 10%. Forest cover includes forests inside and outside recorded forest areas, such as plantations, community forests and private lands with tree growth.
State-wise Data
A total of 863.08 sq km of forest land in Karnataka is under encroachment, followed by 575.54 sq km in Maharashtra, 534.9 sq km in Arunachal Pradesh, 405.07 sq km in Odisha, 264.97 sq km in Uttar Pradesh, 247.72 sq km in Mizoram, 200.40 sq km in Jharkhand and 168.91 sq km in Chhattisgarh.
Tamil Nadu has 157.68 sq km of encroached forest land, Andhra Pradesh 133.18 sq km, Gujarat 130.08 sq km, Punjab 75.67 sq km, Uttarakhand 49.92 sq km and Kerala 49.75 sq km. 42.42 sq km in Tripura, 37.42 sq km in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and 32.7 sq km in Manipur is encroached.
The ministry informed the NGT that it had asked states to submit data through letters sent on May 1, May 17 and May 28 last year. States and UTs were also reminded multiple times over the phone and a meeting was held with them on November 11.
The ministry sent further reminder letters on February 22 and March 26 this year, asking the remaining states and UTs to provide the information in a tabulated format.
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