Mumbai, 15 March 2022
Maharashtra, the third largest state with a geographical area of 3,07,713 square kilometre has a total recorded forest area of 61,952 square kilometres. This includes 50,865 sq.km of Reserved Forest, 6,433 sq.km of Protected Forest and 4,654 sq.km of Unclassed Forests area. Unclassed Forest includes all forest other than Reserve Forest and Protected Forest as reported by State/UTs Forest Departments.
Also as per the information available with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 228.81 ha of the above mentioned forest area, is under encroachment.
This information was given by Minister of State, M/o Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey in reply to a question in Lok Sabha yesterday, 14th March 2022
Besides, state-wise details of Recorded Forest Area and Area under encroachment were also provided as given below. The total Recorded Forest Area in the Country is 7,75,288 square kilometre, as per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2021.
State and Union Territories wise details of Recorded Forest Area including the State of Maharashtra is given below:
Recorded Forest Areas (RFA) in States/UTs as per ISFR-2021
(Area in square kilometre)
|
|
State/ UT |
Geographical Area (GA) |
RFA (in different categories) |
Total RFA (2021) |
|
|||
|
Sl. No. |
Reserved Forest |
Protected Forest |
Unclassed Forests* |
|
||||
|
|
Andhra Pradesh |
1,62,968 |
31,959 |
5,069 |
230 |
37,258 |
|
|
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh |
83,743 |
12,371 |
11,857 |
27,312 |
51,540 |
|
|
|
|
Assam |
78,438 |
17,864 |
0 |
8,972 |
26,836 |
|
|
|
|
Bihar |
94,163 |
693 |
6,183 |
566 |
7,442 |
|
|
|
|
Chhattisgarh |
1,35,192 |
25,897 |
24,036 |
9,883 |
59,816 |
|
|
|
|
Delhi |
1,483 |
78 |
25 |
0 |
103 |
|
|
|
|
Goa |
3,702 |
119 |
755 |
397 |
1,271 |
|
|
|
|
Gujarat |
196,244 |
14,574 |
2,898 |
4,398 |
21,870 |
|
|
|
|
Haryana |
44,212 |
249 |
1,158 |
152 |
1,559 |
|
|
|
|
Himachal Pradesh |
55,673 |
1,883 |
28,887 |
7,178 |
37,948 |
|
|
|
|
Jharkhand |
79,716 |
4,500 |
18,922 |
1,696 |
25,118 |
|
|
|
|
Karnataka |
191,791 |
28,690 |
3,931 |
5,663 |
38,284 |
|
|
|
|
Kerala |
38,852 |
11,522 |
0 |
0 |
11,522 |
|
|
|
|
Madhya Pradesh |
3,08,252 |
61,886 |
31,098 |
1,705 |
94,689 |
|
|
|
|
Maharashtra |
3,07,713 |
50,865 |
6,433 |
4,654 |
61,952 |
|
|
|
|
Manipur |
22,327 |
984 |
3,254 |
13,180 |
17,418 |
|
|
|
|
Meghalaya |
22,429 |
1,113 |
12 |
8,371 |
9,496 |
|
|
|
|
Mizoram |
21,081 |
4,499 |
1,823 |
1,157 |
7,479 |
|
|
|
|
Nagaland |
16,579 |
234 |
0 |
8,389 |
8,623 |
|
|
|
|
Odisha |
1,55,707 |
36,049 |
25,133 |
22 |
61,204 |
|
|
|
|
Punjab |
50,362 |
44 |
1,137 |
1,903 |
3,084 |
|
|
|
|
Rajasthan |
3,42,239 |
12,176 |
18,543 |
2,144 |
32,863 |
|
|
|
|
Sikkim |
7,096 |
5,452 |
389 |
0 |
5,841 |
|
|
|
|
Tamil Nadu |
1,30,060 |
20,523 |
1,053 |
1,612 |
23,188 |
|
|
|
|
Telangana |
1,12,077 |
25,800 |
1,592 |
296 |
27,688 |
|
|
|
|
Tripura |
10,486 |
3,588 |
2 |
2,704 |
6,294 |
|
|
|
|
Uttar Pradesh** |
2,40,928 |
11,560 |
296 |
5,528 |
17,384 |
|
|
|
|
Uttarakhand |
53,483 |
26,547 |
9,885 |
1,568 |
38,000 |
|
|
|
|
West Bengal |
88,752 |
7,054 |
3,772 |
1,053 |
11,879 |
|
|
|
|
A & N Islands |
8,249 |
5,613 |
1,558 |
0 |
7,171 |
|
|
|
|
Chandigarh |
114 |
32 |
0 |
3 |
35 |
|
|
|
|
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |
602 |
203 |
5 |
6 |
214 |
|
|
|
|
Jammu& Kashmir |
Shape file Area*** (54,624) |
2,22,236 |
17,648 |
2,551 |
0 |
20,199 |
|
|
|
Ladakh |
Shape file Area*** (1,68,055) |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
Lakshadweep |
30 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Puducherry |
490 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
13 |
|
|
|
Total |
32,87,469 |
4,42,276 |
2,12,259 |
1,20,753 |
7,75,288 |
|
||
|
Source: State/UTs Forest Departments *Unclassed Forest includes all forest other than Reserve Forest and Protected Forest as reported by State/UTs Forest Departments. **In case of Uttar Pradesh, the RFA excludes 9,662.764 km of linear plantations along Road, Railway line and Canal. ***Area of shape file provided by Survey of India (August, 2021). Notified geographical areas for individual UTs from SOI are awaited. |
||||||||
State/UT wise details of the forest area under encroachment in the country (as per the information available in the Ministry) is given below:
|
S.No. |
Name of the State/UTs |
Area under Encroachment (in ha) |
|
1 |
Andhra Pradesh |
34358.33 |
|
2 |
Assam |
377532.63 |
|
3 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
53450.43 |
|
4 |
Bihar |
74.01 |
|
5 |
Chhattisgarh |
7645.84 |
|
6 |
Gujarat |
25.24 |
|
7 |
Goa |
Nil |
|
8 |
Haryana |
1316.44 |
|
9 |
Himachal Pradesh |
6252.00 |
|
10 |
Jharkhand |
29048.50 |
|
11 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
16512.39 |
|
12 |
Karnataka |
407.09 |
|
13 |
Kerala |
5024.54 |
|
14 |
Madhya Pradesh |
54173.28 |
|
15 |
Maharashtra |
228.81 |
|
16 |
Manipur |
2213.82 |
|
17 |
Meghalaya |
9747.19 |
|
18 |
Mizoram |
10852.80 |
|
19 |
Nagaland |
25.89 |
|
20 |
Odisha |
33154.19 |
|
21 |
Punjab |
9008.08 |
|
22 |
Rajasthan |
13939.99 |
|
23 |
Sikkim |
2817.21 |
|
24 |
Tripura |
3621.80 |
|
25 |
Tamil Nadu |
15010.71 |
|
26 |
Telangana |
2004.48 |
|
27 |
Uttar Pradesh |
27325.17 |
|
28 |
Uttarakhand |
10649.11 |
|
29 |
West Bengal |
10214.80 |
|
30 |
A & N Islands |
3851.24 |
|
31 |
Chandigarh |
14.00 |
|
32 |
D&N Haveli |
0.08 |
|
33 |
Daman & Diu |
87.83 |
|
34 |
Lakshadweep |
Nil |
|
35 |
Delhi |
384.38 |
|
36 |
Puducherry |
Nil |
|
37 |
Ladakh |
01.00 |
* * *
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