Punjab witnesses increase in compensatory afforestation

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, July 22

There has been a gradual increase in compensatory afforestation in Punjab over the past four years although the forest cover in the state has marginally decreased by 2 sq km since 2019.

Dip in total forest area

Advertisement

• After witnessing a massive dip from 1,321.98 hectares in 2019-20 to 311.978 hectares in 2020-21, compensatory afforestation went up to 644.995 hectares in 2021-22, 800.383 hectares in 2022-23 and 940.384 hectares in 2023-24
• The total forest area in the state decreased from 1,849 sq km in 2019 to 1,847 sq km in 2021

After witnessing a massive dip from 1,321.98 hectares in 2019-20 to 311.978 hectares in 2020-21, compensatory afforestation went up to 644.995 hectares in 2021-22, 800.383 hectares in 2022-23 and 940.384 hectares in 2023-24, according to information tabled by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the Lok Sabha today.

Compensatory afforestation is the process of planting trees to compensate for the forest land diverted to non-forest activities. The total forest area in the state, however, decreased from 1,849 sq km in 2019 to 1,847 sq km in 2021, according to the figures from the India State of Forest Report quoted by the ministry in Parliament.

At the national level, the total forest cover increased from 7,12,249 sq km to 7,13,789 sq km between 2019 and 2021, out of which 12 states and UTs reported a decrease.

Since 2019, the number of proposals from Punjab to divert forest land for other activities was 1,073, which is the third highest in the country after Gujarat and Haryana. Approval has been granted for diverting 1,912 hectares in the state. Forest land is diverted under the provisions of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, that provides for the conservation of forests and for matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto.

There are several states where the area of diverted forest land is much more than Punjab. Across all states and UTs, 8,731 proposals had been raised since 2019 and diversion of 95,724.99 hectares approved.