Over 12 lakh hectare of forest land was diverted in the last 34 years for nearly 25,000 non-forest projects, government today said.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar said, "The Ministry has granted approval for diversion of 12,00,570 hectare of forest land for non-forestry purposes under various categories of 24,939 cases under Forest (Conservation) Act."
Of this, 3.68 lakh hectare was lost due to encroachment, he said.
The highest amount of forest land diverted was in Madhya Pradesh at 3,95,322.79 hectare for 1,160 infrastructure projects followed by Chhattisgarh and Maharastra where 1,08,606.76 and 1,02,174.41 hectares was diverted for 529 and 1,701 projects respectively.
Last year, the Centre had given its approval for diversion of 35,867 hectares of forest land in a total of 783 cases, involving roads, railway lines and infrastructure projects.
The maximum of 9,830 hactare was diverted in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Odisha 4,516 ha, Andhra Pradesh 3,334 ha, Chhattisgarh 3,236 ha, Jharkhand 2,989 ha and Maharashtra 2,380 ha.
