TS 2nd in diverting forest land, AP stands 6th

■ Around 9.4K hectares of TS land, 3.4K hectares of AP land diverted for developmental activities

While on one hand, the Telangana state government gets applauded for developing the green cover in the state under its flagship programme “Haritha Haram”, somehow, on the other hand, TS stands second in the country for diverting its forest land. Around 9,420.24 hectares of forest land has been diverted to different development activities between January 2015 and January

2019.

Andhra Pradesh also stands sixth in the country to divert its forest land, having diverted more than

3,474.57 hectares of land during that tenure.

Here it should be noted that the Government of Andhra Pradesh also claims to be environmental promoters with their flagship programme ‘Neeru-Chettu’.

According to a response given last month by Dr Mahesh Sharma, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Madhya Pradesh was the first to divert forest land with more than

12,785.98 hectares but has diverted the said land for

241 proposals. But Andhra Pradesh and Telangana state have diverted huge areas of forest land for only 34 and 32 cases, respectively. Although the government considers the diversion of forest lands a positive developmental change, environmentalists are unhappy with the attitude of the government.

Environmentalist S. Jeevanada Reddy said, “Governments always follow the path of planting one tree and destroying 10. They will claim that the land is being diverted for important purposes. Can

10,000 plants replace a 100year-old tree? The ultimate objective of the government is to obtain votes in the upcoming elections. The government of AP gives more importance to real estate. Programmes like ‘Neeru Chettu’ are solely meant to earn money.”

He added, “When it comes to Telangana, the government is planting saplings every year. But can the government or the forest department show the success ratio of the plantation? Can they show us the trees that are still alive out of those that were planted as part of the Haritha Haram project? The most unfortunate part is that the Government of India will not deny the proposals, and all states will continue to divert their land legally.”

An official from Telangana State Forest Department on condition of anonymity said, “We simply cannot deny the land diversion caused by some development activities. But we do take precautionary measures to minimise damage. How can we refuse to offer forest land for irrigation projects or other deve-lopment activities when they are taken up for farmers and people in the state? However, the Haritha Haram project is clearly helping the cause and the forest cover is growing in the state.”