The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the government concerning the loss of 2.33 million hectares of tree cover over the last two decades, noting that India has the second-highest deforestation rate globally. This significant forest loss violates several environmental laws, including the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
A bench comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, and expert member Dr. A. Senthil Vel, took suo motu cognisance of the issue and requested responses from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Central Pollution Control Board, and the Survey of India. The NGT also directed the head of the Survey of India to provide a detailed report on forest cover changes from 2000 to 2024, with a particular focus on the northeast region.
The Global Forest Watch report of 2024 highlighted that India has lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000, a 6% decrease. The report noted that from 2002 to 2023, India lost 414,000 hectares of humid primary forest, which is 18% of the total tree cover loss. Five states—Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur—accounted for 60% of this loss, with Assam alone losing 324,000 hectares.
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