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Andhra Pradesh lost maximum forest in six years

December 24: Andhra Pradesh lost maximum forest land to non-forest use among Indian states between 2006 and 2012, according to a data released by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

The state lost 23,128.00 hectares of forest land during the seven-year period starting 2006 in as many as 324 cases where forest land was diverted to non-forest use. The state had lost 6,231.58 hectares of forest land in 78 cases in the year 2008 and another 5,670.63 hectares in 2010 from 27 cases of diversion of forest land.

Chattisgarh stood second in terms of diversion of forest land to non-forest use during the period with 22,470.57 hectares in 230 cases. The largest chunk of 6,207.09 hectares was diverted in 49 cases in 2006 alone.

The third largest sufferer was Jharkhand, which had lost a total of 19,954.90 hectares in 256 cases of diversion of forest land to non-forest use while Odisha, with a diversion of 19,881.98 hectares, came next.

The fourth, fifth and sixth largest diversion of forest land to non-forest use took place in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

In all, the country had lost a total of 176,728.99 hectares of forest land in as many as 9,078 cases of diversion to non-forest land for mining and other industrial activities between the year 2006 and 2012, the data revealed.

The following table gives details of number of cases and total forest area diverted (in hectares) between 2006 and 2012 in 30 Indian states: