New Delhi: A staggering 13,056 square kilometers of forest land, exceeding the combined geographical area of Delhi, Sikkim, and Goa, is under encroachment across 25 states and Union Territories. This alarming data, submitted by the Union Environment Ministry to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), highlights the widespread issue of forest encroachment in the country.
The NGT had directed the ministry to compile data on forest encroachment in all states and Union Territories last April, following a PTI report that revealed 7,506.48 square kilometers of forest land was under encroachment. The ministry’s report, submitted to the NGT last week, provides a breakdown of the affected areas across different states and Union Territories.
Madhya Pradesh tops the list with 5,460.9 square kilometers of forest land under encroachment, followed by Assam with 3,620.9 square kilometers. Other states, including Karnataka (863.08 square kilometres), Maharashtra (575.54 square kilometres), Arunachal Pradesh (534.9 square kilometers), Odisha (405.07 square kilometers), Uttar Pradesh (264.97 square kilometres), Mizoram (247.72 square kilometres), Jharkhand (200.40 square kilometers), and Chhattisgarh (168.91 square kilometers), also reported significant forest encroachment.
These states were followed by Tamil Nadu which has 157.68 square kilometres of encroached forest land, Andhra Pradesh 133.18 square kilometers, Gujarat 130.08 square kilometers, Punjab 75.67 square kilometers, Uttarakhand 49.92 square kilometers, Kerala 49.75 square kilometers, Tripura 42.42 square kilometers, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 37.42 square kilometers and Manipur 32.7 square kilometers.
The ministry’s report noted that encroachment has been removed from 409.77 square kilometers of forest land so far, but it is unclear whether this area was excluded from the total forest land under encroachment as of March 2024.
