A state of grave forest ‘disequilibrium’ seems evolving in Odisha, where the rate of diversion of forests for non-forest uses, predominantly mining, year-after-year exceeds the rate of afforestation to recompense the loss. This evolving situation would cast a critical impact on the region’s climate in future.
Sample this: When the State has diverted a whopping over 50,149 hectares (ha) forest for a host of private and public projects, Odisha could recompense mere around 42,313 ha till date through compensatory afforestation.
According to the data available with the State Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, in the year 2015-16, a high of over 4,800 ha forest land was diverted for around 88 industrial projects. In last four years, the State has seen diversion of over 16,700 ha forest land for industrial purposes. Moreover, road projects too have taken a toll on forests in the State, data revealed. In addition, a whopping 78,505 ha forest land in State is under encroachment.
The detailed data shows that forests are fast losing out predominantly to mining in the State. It has been a revelation that over the years, diversion of forest land for mining in State is over 60 per cent against the national average of 50 per cent. Thermal units coming up in the State saw the maximum forest land diversion after mining projects. Interestingly, none of the forest land was diverted for hydro-power, and only a few hectares were seen diverted for irrigation projects in the State so far.
Sources in the Forest Department further revealed that with over a dozen projects from the State still waiting for forest clearance from the Union Environment Ministry as the State Government has not provided the necessary documents to it, the stress on forest lands in Odisha would be going to be more in the coming years.
The nagging fact, however, is falling in State Government’s effort to compensate the loss of forests. When the conservation measures in the reclaimed forest lands of around 79,000 ha despite it being mandatory under the Forest Conservation Act 1980, is quite laggard; compensatory afforestation is not simply matching up the forest loss every year. Justice Shah Commission report on illegal mining in State had also expressed deep concern over negligent afforestation programmes in the reclaimed areas in the mine-rich regions and, still, the pace is yet to match the need.
Though the State has a reserve forest area of 26,329 sqkm and protected forests area of 11, 685 sqkm, a whopping 20,000sqkm of non demarcated and other forests area under the Revenue Department bears the maximum stress of diversion in the State.
However, what holds hope is a rise in compensatory afforestation last fiscal, especially, when area under compensatory afforestation has nearly halved to around 2,100 ha in 2013-14 from 2010-11. Similarly, the downward trend under National Afforestation Programme (NAP) has shown some improvement.