Forest area measuring over double the size of Mumbai suburban district was diverted for various infrastructure and development projects in the past five years, the Union environment ministry informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The Mumbai suburban district roughly measures 386.56 sq km.
Junior environment minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Upper House that it gave its nod to divert 88,903.80 hectares (889.03 sq km) of forest area, mostly for road projects (194.24 sq km) followed by mining (188.47 sq km), in the past five years.
Choubey was responding to a series of questions by Bihar MP Sushil Kumar Modi related to forest areas diverted for non-forest purposes, including for infrastructure and industrial projects, over the last five years.
Choubey also said that very dense and moderately dense forests constitute only 44.33 % of recorded forest area. “As per India State of Forest Report 2021, published by Forest Survey of India, the area under ‘Very Dense Forest’ category is 87,742sq km, while ‘Moderately Dense Forest’ category has an area of 2,39,564 sq km, within the Recorded Forest Area (RFA)/ Green Wash (GW) area of digitised RFA/GW boundary, of 7,38,373 square km. Hence, the proportion of Very Dense and Moderately Dense Forests within the Recorded Forest Area/Greenwash area of the country is 44.33 %.”
On whether residential and institution neighbourhoods in Delhi are recorded as forests, Choubey replied in the affirmative. “The trees growing in residential complexes and other urban areas are serving the ecological function of trees, creating their own micro-climate and micro-ecosystems. The role of urban greens in cities is a well-known fact. Further, carbon stock is being stored in all these trees, irrespective of their location and hence, are playing an important role in climate change mitigation,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}On whether residential and institution neighbourhoods in Delhi are recorded as forests, Choubey replied in the affirmative. “The trees growing in residential complexes and other urban areas are serving the ecological function of trees, creating their own micro-climate and micro-ecosystems. The role of urban greens in cities is a well-known fact. Further, carbon stock is being stored in all these trees, irrespective of their location and hence, are playing an important role in climate change mitigation,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}On Choubey’s statements, Kanchi Kohli, environmental law and policy researcher, said: “What this indicates is that India’s forest diversion story is increasingly being connected with both how compliance with climate mitigation targets is assessed and how forest and tree cover is being calculated. Therefore, discussions around net zero emissions may also require a grounded understanding of the kinds of forest areas repurposed, forest rights affected, biodiversity loss in lieu of which offsets are being recorded. Going ahead, an evaluation of the state of forests can be benefit with methodology that takes on board all the above parameters.”