Over 13,000 sq km of forest area encroached in India, larger than Delhi, Sikkim and Goa combined

New Delhi: Over 13,000 square kilometres of forest land, surpassing the combined geographical area of Delhi, Sikkim, and Goa, is currently under encroachment across 25 states and Union territories, according to the latest report submitted by the Union Environment Ministry. Kerala, which has 49.75 square kilometres of encroached forest land, is among the affected regions.

The data, compiled as of March 2024, was shared with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) last week. It shows that 13,056 square kilometres of forest area in 25 states and Union Territories have been encroached, while ten states have yet to submit their reports.

The report comes after the NGT took suo motu cognizance of a PTI article last year, revealing that 7,50,648 hectares (approximately 7,506 square kilometres) of forest area was under encroachment. In response, the tribunal had directed the Ministry of Environment to compile the data of encroachment across all states and Union Territories.

The following states and UTs have provided data on encroachment: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, and Manipur.

On the other hand, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, Nagaland, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh have yet to submit their data on forest encroachment.

Madhya Pradesh has the highest encroachment, with 5,460.9 square kilometres of forest land affected, followed by Assam with 3,620.9 square kilometres. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, and Odisha also feature prominently in the list of states with significant forest encroachment.

The report highlights that, so far, 409.77 square kilometres of encroached land have been cleared, though it is unclear if this area is excluded from the overall encroachment tally as of March 2024.

Forest encroachment continues to be a contentious issue, with experts like CR Bijoy emphasizing that the true extent of encroachment cannot be determined until the Forest Rights Act, 2006, is fully implemented. The Act aims to recognize the rights of tribal and forest-dependent communities over the land they have lived on and protected for generations.