Data submitted by the Union government have revealed a distressing picture of India’s forest lands. According to the report presented to the National Green Tribunal, more than 13,000 square kilometres of forest areas are under encroachment across 25 states and Union territories. It must be pointed out in this context that the findings of the latest India State of Forest Report had also drawn attention to the negative growth in forested areas in some states. Forest area refers to land officially designated as forest. Astonishingly, the encroached area is more than the total geographical area of Delhi, Sikkim and Goa put together. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change was prodded to submit the report by the NGT, which was forced to take suo motu cognisance of a government report released last year that mentioned the total encroached forest area to be 7,506.48 sq km — a little more than half of what has been revealed in the latest assessment. Madhya Pradesh registered the highest degree of forest encroachment with a staggering 5,460.9 sq km affected, followed by Assam. Severely impacted states include Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand among others. What is more, this is only a partial view of the crisis as 10 states, including West Bengal, are yet to submit their data despite multiple reminders from the Centre.
Rapid urban expansion powered by a lopsided model of development that prioritises economic growth over sustainability has been increasingly putting pressure on India’s dwindling forests. The Centre’s Rs 80,000 crore mega infrastructure project on the Great Nicobar Island proposes to divert 130 sq km of tropical rainforest area. Telangana — among the states that have failed to submit forest encroachment data — was recently found to be clearing large tracts of the Kancha Gachibowli forest. That the apex court had to intervene and stay the tree-felling is an indictment of the government’s scant regard for environmental concerns. Such institutional apathy makes the protection of forest land as well as the reclaiming of encroached forests challenging. There is an additional concern. Encroachments on forest land not only disrupt an already fragile ecological balance but also threaten marginalised, forest-dependent communities whose identification and rights are recognised and protected by the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The executive must rectify this predation on precious forested land. But such interventions are contingent upon sustained public pressure, which remains as fractured as India’s forests.
