90k ha forest land cleared for diversion in 5 yrs, RS told

The diversion of around 90,000 hectares of forest land for development projects was approved between January 2018 and April 2023, the Union environment ministry has informed the Rajya Sabha.

- Jayashree Nandi

The most was from Madhya Pradesh, 19730.36 ha followed by Odisha, 13304.79 ha. Arunachal Pradesh saw diversion of 7448.34 ha and Gujarat, 8064.76 ha. Even relatively smaller states and UTs such as Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Manipur recorded diversion of 100 ha and 603.75 ha respectively.

HT reported on April 7 that forest area measuring over double the size of the Mumbai suburban district was diverted for various infrastructure and development projects in the past five years, citing the Union environment ministry's reply in the Rajya Sabha in April. In April, the ministry said 88,903.80 hectares (889.03 sq km) of forest area had been diverted in the past five years, mostly for road projects (194.24 sq km) followed by mining (188.47 sq km). That number has now increased to 90001.15 ha.