How much you know about floods, explained here with pics

A flooded area in Bihar. (Photo credit: Facebook/WHO Bihar Region)

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), flood is a meteorological situation when water of a river begins to flow above the danger mark. The danger mark is fixed on the basis of average flow of the river over 25 to 50 years during monsoon period.

Drought is the situation, according to the IMD, having less than 5 cm rainfall for four continuous week any time between mid-May and mid-October. If the rainfall is less than 5 cm for any month (four continuous weeks), it is meteorological drought situation.

Flood prone areas are located practically in all parts of the country excluding the internal plateau regions. However, there has been varying tenure of flood and from that point of view, eastern India, northeastern India and eastern coastal plains are the worst affected areas as far as flood is concerned.

The IMD has divided flood into four tenures and affected geographical regions:

Six-week flood region: Assam valley

4-6-week flood region: Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar plain, West Bengal and isolated plain areas of the Northeast – Loktak basin and Tripura basin.

1-4-week flood region: Eastern coastal plain, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi Union Territory, South Gujarat especially Narmada and Tapi basins, and Kashmir Valley.

Less than one-week flood region: Central and northern Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and peripheral parts of peninsular plateau.

A bus plying on a flooded road in Bihar. (Photo credit: FB/Darbhanga Medical College)

There are some rivers, which are highly flood prone. Brahmaputra and Ganga cover about 60 per cent of flood prone areas of the country. Some flood prone rivers are Teesta, Kapoli (a tributary of Brahmaputra), Dihang and Burhi Dihang (known for flash floods).

In the Ganga system of the Himalayan rivers, the main flood causing rivers are, Mahananda, Kosi, Gandak, Burhi Gandak, Kamla Balan, Saryu, Ghaghra, Gomati, Ramganga and Yamuna. Kosi was once called the sorrow of Bihar

In the peninsular India, the main flood causing rivers are, Son, Punpun, Ajay and Damodar, which was known as the sorrow of West Bengal once. At present, both Kosi and Damodar rivers have been managed and controlled to some extent but others continue to play the same role.

Among the East Coast river, Mahanadi, Godawari, Krishna, Cauvery and Brahmi are highly flood prone. Among west flowing peninsular rivers, Tapi and Sabarmati are highly flood prone. 

(Photo credit: FB/Ashish Jha)

In the Punjab plains, Sutlej and Beas are highly flood prone while in Haryana Ghaggar and Yamuna bring floods. The Jhelum is flood prone in the Kashmir Valley.

Besides these rivers, there are several short-distance rives, which flow on high slope and create flash flood during monsoon season.

Total area under flood-prone category, according to the Seventh Five-Year Plan papers is 320 lakh hectares where flood happens every year. Total flood-affected area is 2.42 crore hectares where flood occurs but not every year.

Causes of flood:

Flood is the manifestation of many geographical factors and, to many geographers and geologists it has become an ecological factor. This does mean that flood is bound to come in this part of the world every year. It is a flood-ecology region.

Factors:

1. Erratic behaviour of monsoon – Sometimes the catchment area receives very high rainfall and then flood arrives. In the western India – Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana –torrential rain brings sudden outburst of rain which leads to flashfloods. In contrast, in the North-East, even the regular rainfall brings heavy rainfall and that is responsible for flood situation in the region.

2. Geomorphology – Flood occurs due to geomorphological profile of central plain of India. Brahmaputra Valley is a narrow ramp valley. Similarly, the Ganga basin is sandwiched between the Himalayas and the peninsular plateaus. Both river valleys are bordered by steep rising slopes while the plains are among the flattest ones in the world. 

This topographical feature brings rapid run-off from the catchment areas while the run-off in the plain moves at a slow speed. Consequently, these river basins overflow bringing flood over large areas during monsoon season. 

Flood in Siliguri, West Bengal. (Photo credit: FB/Naresh Kumar)

3. Deforestation – Deforestation in the Siwalik Himalaya has increased the volume of the run-off and therefore frequency and tenure of floods in many of Himalayan rivers. Several peninsular rivers including small ones have become flood prone in recent years due to loss of trees in the past few decades, e.g. Ajay river has become flood-prone due to deforestation in the catchment area. 

Jhelum was not flood-prone earlier. Mahananda was not so acute in bring floods. But at present all these rivers bring flood almost every year and that is related to deforestation. Several plateau districts of Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh have fallen under flood due to deforestation and rapid run-off in these areas.

4. Soil Erosion and Siltation – These are responsible for increased flood-frequency mainly in the central plain of the country. According to the UNEP, River Kosi is the second-most affected siltation affected river in the world, only after Hwang-ho of China. 

Bed siltation occurs due to soil erosion in the catchment area and the deposition of silt in the plains owing to rivers’ inability to carry the load any further. It makes the valley shallow and whenever there is voluminous flow of water, it brings flood and water spreads in the surrounding areas.

5. Drainage Pattern – It is responsible for the flood in the central plain. Most of the rivers make meandering courses. So, overflow brings waters of different rivers close and vast areas, thus, get inundated. 

Punjab does not witness spread of water because of parallel, man-made, drainage of rivers. Although, the rivers often flow over danger mark during flood season but water does not spread. In Punjab, the doab line is always free from flood due to parallel pattern of drainage but the meandering courses of rivers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and braided courses in all delta regions create floods.

Most of the rivers have wide V-shaped valleys. So, the depth of the valley is not great and any increase in the volume of water leads to overflowing and inundation of the neighbouring areas. 

Again some of the rivers have created natural levee which protects one side of the valley from flooding but the other bank is flooded and cause flood over low lying areas adjacent to that bank. Bihar plain is noted for this type of flood. Western banks of rivers in Darbhanga have natural levee.

In the central Bihar, there is also flood due to overflow of the main consequent river. Its overflow prevents the inflow of tributary water channels. In fact, the water of the main river, Ganga, begins to enter the course of the tributaries and the tributaries’ water is pushed back and water spreads over vast areas, e.g. Tal area flood in South Bihar and Jharkhand, Chaur area flood in West Bihar and West Bengal. Chaurs are the floodplains situated in the abandoned courses of rivers. They form ox-bow lakes during floods.

6. Shifting Course of Rivers – Such flooding is mainly important in regions where river have a history of shifting their course. Rivers like Kosi, Teesta, Gomati and Mahananda are facing this problem. Kosi is now believed to have settled in its course but others are still active. All these rivers have westward shifting courses. 

Flood in Darbhanga. (Photo credit: FB/Pankaj Mishra)

These rivers have a tendency to migrate to west. Hence, the west banks of these rivers are constantly being eroded and the east bank extends to a huge low lying floodplain. These rivers cause phenomenal spread of water beyond eastern banks onto the vast plain

Rotation of the earth is held indirectly responsible for the westward shifting of these rivers and the associated floodplains. Rotational impact brings westward shift of rivers. The eastern banks become low lying and vulnerable to floods.

Eastern coastal plains receive floods not simply due to deforestation and rapid run-off but also because of cyclonic rainfall and greater havoc is caused by the combination of these factors. If there is high tide situation along with cyclone, rainfall causes great damage. 

Cyclone brings rainfall and high tide water on the coastal plains as well as increases the velocity of the sea waves. Tidal water enters the mouth of the rivers pushing back the river water. The water level of the river increases. The river goes in a spate. 

The flow of the river is reversed and low lying floodplain is taken over by the floodwater. Such tidal flooding is seen in the Mahanadi and the Godawari. 

Floodwater enters Rampatty village of Darbhanga, Bihar. (Photo credit: FB/Mukul Choudhary)

Western coastal rivers generally receive flash floods. The duration of such floods is about one week. The situation mainly occurs due to deforestation along the Western Ghats. Loss of vegetation means less obstruction to run-off. 

Rapid run-off leads to greater water volume in the river valleys than the channel is capable of carrying off to the sea. This pushes the water level up in the river valleys leading overflow and inundation in the neighbouring areas.

7. Human Factors – Floods are also caused by human factors. Ironically, flood control programmes and some other developmental programmes have indirectly contributed in greater spreading of flood. Although, multi-purpose vally projects and other power generation projects have controlled floods in the basins of some of the rivers and regions. But the problem has emerged in a different way. 

Due to siltation on the beds, the reservoirs’ capacity has reduced and whenever excess water is released from that reservoir through canals and other outlets, flood is caused. Flood water even enters the areas where flood had never come previously. 

Flood-prone regions face massive water-logging problems during rainy season. This is a scene of water-logging at Darbhanga, Bihar on a rainy day. (Photo credit: FB/Er Jitendra Kumar)

The canals also face siltation problems, which get compounded by the seepage of river water from the sides of the canals into neighbouring agricultural lands. These agricultural fields become unproductive due to excess of water and behave like marshy land and are waterlogged at times even if water is not pulled from these canals. The excessive wet lands are not conducive for agriculture. 

This type of flood brings greater loss as this is relatively new phenomenon and people dependent on such lands are neither prepared nor equipped to deal with such a situation. In 1995, Banka district of Bihar turned into a wasteland due to opening of two reservoirs – Chandan and Orhni.

Governmental approach to construct embankments for the protection of settlement and agricultural lands has also deteriorated the situation in many parts of the country. Now, the approach is being modified. Such programmes are now being called flood protection programmes instead of flood control programme.

Thus, several new regions, e.g. in northeastern towns of Bihar, many new settlements have fallen in the trap of flood. Flood control measures have brought new dimensions in floods in India.

Soils of India: Basic characteristics and their expanse

Topmost layer of the continental crust is called soil. It is made up of weathered particles, clay minerals, air, humus, water and micro-organisms. These constituents are present in soils in different composition and proportion due to varying environmental conditions. The composition of soil has been the basis of classification of soils.

According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian soils are of eight types. This classification was put forth in 1956 on the basis of the All India Soil Survey Committee set up by the ICAR in 1953. The classification is based on three factors:

-          Geological structure of soil

-          Components of soil

-          Colour of soil

The eight types of soils are as follows:

1.       Alluvial

2.       Red

3.       Black

4.       Laterite

5.       Forest soil

6.       Saline or alkaline 

7.       Desert soil

8.       Peat or organic soil

Alluvial and peat soils are azonal (separated from their region of origin) soils of India. Peat and saline soils are intra-zonal soils. The rest are zonal soils. Here, primary minerals have become secondary minerals. Magnetite is the primary mineral but it has become limonite, the secondary mineral.

Alluvial soil covers 24 per cent of land of India. In area, this soil is spread over 7.7 lakh sq km. It is a deposited soil caused by rivers. There are four main regions of alluvial deposition in India. These are:

-    Central plain: this plain is extended from Indo-Pakistan border to Dimapur district of Nagaland. Dimapur is the only plain district of Nagaland. It is spread over from the Siwalik foothills in the north to upto 500 feet contour lines in south India.

-          Coastal plain: The demarcation line between river plain and coastal plain is 500 feet contour lines.

-          Older alluvial plain in the western Rajasthan districts of Ganganagar and Bikaner.

-          Inter-mountain alluvium: this type of soil is found in Kashmir, Kangra and Doon valleys.

Alluvial deposits of central India are divided into three types and each has regional name. These are Khadar, Bangar and Bhabar.

Khadar is Holocene alluvial deposits. It is characterised by very fine clay deposits,mainly found in the flop prone valleys. Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar plain, almost all non-delta plain of West Bengal, lower Brahmaputra valley, flood prone areas of eastern coastal plain and lower valleys of Tapi and Narmada.

Bangar is an old alluvium. It is a loamy soil. It is found in northwest plain, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh. Bangar is also found in Rajasthan and southern Punjab, where it is sandy loam soil. In western Uttar Pradesh, clayey loam soil is found.  Here silt and clay are dominant.

Water body inside Ranthambore National Park at Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. (Photo: Prabhash K Dutta)

Bangar is also called doab soil. It was deposited during Pleistocene and early Holocene periods. Similar soil is found in the upper Brahmaputra valley, Gujarat and upper plain of coastal regions.

Bhabar is terai soil. Greater content of sand and silt is found in Bhabar soil. Similar soil is found in inter-mountain valley. It is a soil known for coarse texture. They are just off alluvial fan, downwards.

Constitutional character of Indian soils: Indian alluvial soil is deficient in nitrogen and humus. But lime and potash content is adequate in alluvial soil. Lime content is very favourable in terai. Significant phenomenon with alluvial soil is presence of finer grains which make a region flat plain.

Alluvial soil is suitable for most of the crops. However, Khadar is more suitable for rice and jute crops. Terai soil is suitable for sugarcane while Bangar is favourable for those crops which depend on soil moisture like wheat, sugarcane, oil seeds and pulses.

In the inter-mountainous valley (intermontane), the soil is very suitable for sugarcane like in Doon valley and for paddy in other valleys like Kashmir and Kangra’s where clay is the dominant constituent.

In plateau India, three more types of alluvium are found. These are called red alluvium – in Cauvery and Vagai valleys, black alluvium – Wainganga, Wardha, Narmada and Tapi valleys, and laterite alluvium – found in Kerala coastal areas and Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand.

The colour of red soil comes from the parental rocks. As the parental rocks weather, particles dominating the rocks spread and give the red alluvium its colour. Red alluvium is suitable for paddy but due to low rainfall coarse grains are raised in Cauvery and Vagai basins. In blck alluvium region paddy and cotton are raised. Laterite alluvium is commonly used for paddy culture.

Red soil:

It has the second largest acreage in India. Its acreage is about 5.2 lakh sq km. basically, it is the soil of archean  plateau region of the country. Pre-Cambrian structure are either igneous or the gneiss and schist. They have greater content of iron which is greater in metamorphosed granite. Due to the presence of iron ore, the weathered and loosened particles have gained the red colour.

Tamil Nadu has the largest acreage of red soil in India. About two-third of Tamil Nadu is covered by red soil including red alluvium. Other areas of red soil are, Travencore Hills of Kerala, Karnataka plateau excluding a ribbon shaped area located between Bangalore and Mysore, Rayalseema and Dandakaranya plateau area of Andhra Pradesh, Ratnagiri and Bhanda region near Nagpur in Maharashtra, patches in Kutch, Eastern Rajasthan and Aravalis, Durg and Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Balaghat and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, Jhansi and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, Dharawar rocks of Jharkhand, Singhbhum and northern plateau of Odisha, plateau region on West Bengal, patches in Meghalaya and Nagaland.

It has low moisture retaining capacity. Its humus content is moderate. It is deficient in nitrogen and phosphorous. It has adequate to excessive iron and moderate lime content. On the whole the red soil is not very favourable for agricultural activities. Only rainy season is cultivable.

Dry forest vegetation inside the Ranthambore National Park. (Photo: Prabhash K Dutta)

Red soil regions don’t have much prospect of irrigation because the basement rock is granite. So, the ground water table is very deep. Due to low humus after two-three years of agriculture or cultivation, there is a sudden deterioration in land’s capability. By providing external inputs, its capability can be maintained.

With inputs and irrigation facilities, coffee is cultivated on red soil in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka. Even rubber plantation has been successful here. The same experiment was replicated in Chitradurga and Karwar of Karnataka. Kaiga nuclear power plant is located near Karwar in Uttara Kannada district.

Chitradurga is famous for manganese ore while Coorg is known for rubber and coffee plantation.

Black soil: 

It is also called Regur in Maharashtra and Gujarat. India has the largest acreage of black soil in the world. Total area under black soil in India is 5.18 lakh square kilometres.

Black soil came into existence due to fissure eruption of lava. It attained its present shape and texture due to weathering and decay of basaltic structure.

Largest acreage of black soil is found in Maharashtra in continuity with some patches in eastern Gujarat, where black alluvial soil is dominant. Other areas under black soil include Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh, an elongated stretch from Satpura and Panchmahal in Gujarat to Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh, patches on the Pat plateau and Rajmahal hills in Jharkhand and adjoining areas of Bihar and West Bengal, Telangana plateau, ribbon-shaped plateau of Karnataka between Bangalore and Mysore, Coimbatore-Madurai uplands in Tamil Nadu and patches on Meghalaya plateau.

On the basis of thickness and structural characteristics, black soil is divided into four types:

Deep black

Medium black

Light black

Alluvial black

Deep black soil is found in the west central Maharashtra. It is also found in Pune and Miraj districts. Miraj is in south Maharashtra. Here is the thickness is greater compared to other types of black soil. Thickness gives deep black colour to the soil. This is also found in Telangana region, which also has greater thickness of soil. Though the deep black soil is suited for agricultural activities, these regions don’t have intense cultivation due to low rainfall. Both in Maharashtra and Telangana, the deep black soil regions are drought prone areas.

Medium black soil is found over Malwa plateau, in Karnataka’s black soil regions, central Maharashtra and Satpura regions of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Light black soil is found in Gujarat, eastern Maharashtra, Coimbatore-Madurai uplands of Tamil Nadu. Some of the most isolated areas in peninsular India too have light black soil. It is not much thick giving the light colour to the soil. The productivity of black soil varies according to thickness – more the thickness, more productivity soil has.

A lion sleeping inside Delhi zoo. (Photo: Prabhash K Dutta)

Alluvial black soil is a fertile soil. When the constituent particles are considered, alluvial black soil has adequate lime, potash and iron. But, it is low in humus. Water retaining capacity is high. Top structure of soil is coarse. The coarseness of top soil attributed to dryness in the upper layers. The bottom of the black alluvial soil has clay and silt, which improve moisture retaining capacity.

Black soil is very suitable for dry-land farming. Cotton is the main crop. After 1960, sugarcane has also emerged as the major crop on black soil. Sugarcane requires more moisture. Consequently, tube-well irrigation has developed in peninsular India. 

In fact, there has been massive exploitation of ground water especially in Maharashtra, where sharp deterioration of ground water level has been found. This trend has adverse impact on not only the capability of black soil but the ecology and the humans also.

Laterite soil:

It is found in the laterite structure region of India with a total area of 2.5 lakh sq km. it is found in Western Ghats, Anaimalai and Cardamom Hills, laterite plateau in Kerala – which has maximum acreage of laterite soil in India and about two-third of Kerala is covered with laterite soil, Eastern Ghats with Odisha having the second largest acreage of laterite soil, laterite structure of Karnataka particularly in Belgaum district of the state, patches of similar soil in northern Tamil Nadu, Pat plateau of Jharkhand, and also in Meghalaya plateau region.

Laterite soil consists of mixture of hydrated oxides of aluminium and iron. Iron oxides are generally present in nodular form making laterite gravelly soil. Laterite soil is poor in nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash and lime. It has adequate iron and aluminium but they don’t make the soil fertile. Humus is not adequate in laterite soil. Consequently, it is not a favourable soil for agriculture.

However, due to presence of gravelly alluvium, laterite soil has become favourable for crops like groundnut. India’s most of the groundnuts are cultivated on laterite soil, which is also suitable for coffee and spices in high or moderate rainfall regions. Kerala is famous for spices grown on its laterite and forest soils.

Tribes living in Western Ghats, Odisha, Jharkhand and adjoining areas of Bihar grow coarse grains on this soil. Laterite soil needs adequate external inputs of potash, nitrogen and phosphorous in 4:2: proportion to make it suitable for cultivation. Also required is adequate and proper irrigation. So, though its capability is low but productivity of the laterite soil can be high with quality inputs.

Forest soil:

It is also known as forest and mountain soil of India. This type of soil is internationally classified as mountain soil. Its acreage in India is about 2 lakh sq km.

It is found on the mountain slopes. It has thin layer of soil due to mountain slope. It has coarse structure. Clay, sand and even weathered drop particles are mixed in this type of soil. It has adequate humus. O1 layer is very rich. It is favourable for cultivation of those crops which do not need greater penetration of roots.

The favourable factor with this soil is its air and water drainage. This factor favours plantation cropping. India’s most of Jhoom Farming is carried out on forest soil which is an unscientific practice. 

What is needed is to develop such land under plantation, food-grain and vegetation farming.

Three important crops are grown on forest soil in northern India – tea, apples and pineapples. In south India, tea and rubber are cultivated. Nilgiri is famous for tea, Anaimalai for rubber plantation and Cardamom slopes for spices.

Such soil is found on the slopes at an altitude of 500m – 3,000m. Entire Siwalik Himalaya is characterised by forest soil. Northeast India too is covered with forest soil. Greater and Lesser Himalayas don’t have forest soil.

A view of Carmona Zalor beach of Goa. (Photo: Prabhash K Dutta)

Saline soil:

It is also known as saline and alkali soil. Its acreage in India is about 1.4 lakh sq km. it has mainly developed in the inland basins of the country. Patches is found in different parts of Rajasthan, western Gujarat, southern Haryana, southwest Uttar Pradesh (in trans-Yamuna tract in Mathura and Agra).

Saline soil emerges due to capillary action of the soil in which salt comes onto the top layer of soil. It is mostly alluvial having dominance of sand and clay. It is region of Bolson and Playa.

Alkali soil has greater accumulation of sodium chloride. This is particularly evident in southern Haryana and southwest Uttar Pradesh and in some parts of Bihar. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar such soil is called Usar. No agriculture is possible on Usar soil.

In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the soil’s quality is improved by giving adequate water. Proper watering of alkali soil dissolves salts present in the top soil forcing it to move downwards. With this, the humus containing soil becomes favourable for agriculture. Short duration crops are possible on alkali soil such nurtured.

The Rajasthan Agricultural Marketing Board experimented with such soils with good effect. Areas with alkali soil are producing fruits, flowers and also have some vegetation. Another way of improving this soil is to develop water drainage through it. 

This ensures that the landform is not subjected to intense evapo-transpiration and thus retains some moisture. There is no need for digging up canals through the region. Drip irrigation can be used to grow flowers and fruits.

Desert soil: 

It is mainly found in western Rajasthan and the Rann of Kutch. Total area under desert soil in India is about 1 lakh sq km.

It is basically a sandy soil. It has excess salt content. Suspended salt and solid particles are in ample quantity in desert soil. Clay is scarce. Consequently, the soil is not suitable for agriculture. Northern part of the desert of India in Ganganagar, Bikaner, Kishangarh and some parts of Barmer districts of Rajasthan has adequacy of clay. Humus is also available there along with phosphorous.

Thus, the northern part of desert has some compositional property of fertility. The real problem in this region is the shortage of surface moisture. Horizon B provides adequate moisture due to which it is a region of shrubs. Development of irrigation with Indira Gandhi canal has proven the importance of this soil in India. Similar characters are found in Kalahari desert and Arabian desert but not in Sahara or Australian desert.

Peat/Organic soil:

It is also named Peaty and Marshy soil. Its acreage in India is about 1 lakh sq km. It is also known as delta soil. But, it is not found in all delta regions of the country. It is found in those delta regions only which are submerged during high tide.

Deltas formed by Ganga, Mahanadi, Brahmi, Godawari and some parts of Krishna delta have peat soil. Cauvery delta does not have much peat soil. In some parts, it  is also called mangrove delta soil.

It is the region of clay and mud. It has suspended solids of salts and excess of moisture. 

A tiger taking rest at Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru. (Photo: Prabhash K Dutta)

Due to excessive moisture content and salt, the region has not been conducive for bacterial activities that are essential to decompose organic components of the soil. The soil carries wooden pieces, skeletons of plants, dead organic tissues and the like.

Owing to lack of decomposition of dead organic materials, it has no humus. No nitrogen content is present in the soil. Excessive moisture and salt have made it infertile type of soil. Only hydrophytes which have tolerance for salts grow in these regions.

Peat soil regions can be, however, developed for coconut plantation farming. Only problem is that coconut plantation needs much more content of sand in soil while peat has more clay than sand.

An essay on afforestation programmes in India

Photo Credit: Aarohi Dutta

Afforestation programmes of India can be understood under three heads as under –

1. National Forestry Programme

2. Compensatory Forestry Programme

3. Social Forestry Programme

The national forestry programme was launched in 1948, a year after India attained Independence, for development of reserve forest of the country. The objective was development of forest of economic use with emphasis on rare species and mountainous forests. Development of biospheric forests was one focus area of the programme.

Under the government programme, 12 national biospheres were to be developed (9 developed till 1999) to conserve the species of the plants in the Himalayas, northeast India, Mangrove vegetation area and plateau regions of India.

To develop deforested wasteland, the national forestry programme had a separate scheme. Two types of wasteland were recognised: deforested wasteland – about 92 million hectares and agricultural wasteland.

Under the wasteland technology mission, 65 million hectares of forest land were to be afforested by 2000. The mission was launched in 1988. The focus areas of this mission were in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Siwalik Himalaya region.

Forest and Environment Ministry was established to carry out afforestation programme. Under 

compensatory forestry programme, which was launched in 1980, it was made legally compulsory for agencies cutting forests to compensate the loss with afforestation in the neighbourhood on the same scale.

The Forest and Environment Ministry circulated a note to all the states asking them to submit compensatory forestry programme reports periodically.
The programme received considerable success in the initial years. The loss of forest during 1980-90 was estimated at 2.98 lakh hectares while fresh forest cover under c

Photo Credit: Aarohi Dutta

ompensatory forestry programme was reported at 3.45 lakh hectares thus recording an achievement of forest cover of about 0.47 lakh hectares in 10 years.

Under the Narmada River Valley Project, loss of about 35-40 lakh hectares of forest was estimated and it was planned to be compensated with 10 lakh trees over about 20,000 in the neighbourhood.

States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal need compensatory forestry on large scale as these states have witnessed massive loss of forest cover due to development efforts.

Social forestry programme is afforestation at micro level. It is people’s programme of afforestation. First participation is invited from people in villages. Every settlement or village is the unit of implementation of the social forestry programme.

Social forestry programme is an anti-poverty programme and comes as part of rural development programme. It is taken to provide an alternative economy to rural population. Social forestry programme was implemented on the basis of a report of the National Commission on Agriculture in 1976.

The National Commission on Agriculture suggested developing alternative rural economy to face the disastrous impact of sudden flood, drought and other calamities in rural areas. One of the suggestions was to promote people’s participation in afforestation.

In 1981, a national workshop was organized by Department of Environment under Ministry of Agriculture at Ahmedabad to discuss the possible threat of fuel and fodder famine in the country. The idea of social forestry was recommended at the workshop. The Indira Gandhi government acted swiftly and the same year social forestry was introduced in 101 fuel deficient districts of the country.

Photo Credit: Prabhash K Dutta

The social forestry programme received recognizable support in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bihar. Hence, the programme was further extended in 1983 and a new slogan was coined: One Tree for Every Child. To meet the target, the central government decided to provide subsidized supply of saplings at the block level. However, the scheme failed disastrously in north India. It received considerable success in West Bengal and southern states of the country.

In 1983, another programme was introduced. The Operation Soil Watch Programme, which was already working in Himachal Pradesh, extended to 14 other states and 282 more districts. In 1988, it was decided to implement in all districts of the country.

Objectives of social forestry programme:

1. Fuel

2. Cow dung for rural households

3. Food reserves for dependent population

4. Industrial resources

5. Ground water table elevation

6. Fodder

7. Soil conservation

8. Employment generation

A model was prepared by UP Singh in EW Geography Journal, which explains the importance of social forestry in rural India. The model explains the multi-dimensional importance of social forestry in rural areas.







Social forestry is of three types –

1. Agro-forestry

2. Rural forestry

3. Urban forestry

Urban forestry became part of social forestry in 1983. Agro-forestry is household forestry programme. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and western central part of India saw considerable success of agro-forestry. The divide lines of the agricultural plots were to be used for agro-forestry.

Mainly fuel wood species were grown under agro-forestry.

Jodhpur Forestry Resource Institute developed some species of Acacia favourable for the environment of Rajasthan. These species provide two benefits to farmers

- Fuel wood to farmers of Rajasthan

- Fodder to desert animals; camel and goats eat the leaves acacia.

It is also able to provide much needed shadow to sanding crops delaying or slowing down the process of evapotranspiration. There has not been quick loss of soil moisture in areas under agro-forestry. So, farmers accepted this with greater enthusiasm in states like Rajasthan.

Rural forestry is basically a community forestry programme. Here panchayat, villages and NGOs are involved to do the job. Rural forestry is carried out on government’s land in villages and on waste lands. The government lands in hundreds of villages had become wasteland. Hence, government decided to bring forestry over such land pieces with the help of the villagers. They were encouraged to grow such trees which can provide food, fuel and fodder.

In Madhya Pradesh, some landlords were encouraged to promote rural forestry programme in their areas. Many landlords gave their lands on lease to private players who developed rural forestry there. In Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh, the villagers worked to promote rural forestry by planting trees along the roads.

Urban forestry was devised to make use of government lands in urban areas for growing trees in a systematic manner. Riverside lands, Railways’ unused lands and patches near parks were brought under forest cover. In urban areas, the NGOs were involved to promote forestry. These organizations continue to work for afforestation.

Nehru Yuva Kendra scheme, which was launched in 1972 to mark the silver jubilee of India’s Independence, has been involved with urban forestry. Nehru Yuva Kendra was launched in 43 districts but when it was made an autonomous body in 1986-87 under Rajiv Gandhi government, it was extended to 311 districts. It was renamed as Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan. At present (2017), it is working in 643 districts of the country. Along with Nehru Yuva Kendra, several universities were also involved to promote urban forestry.

Under the urban forestry programme, the municipal corporations have the responsibility to develop a green belt around the city. Under another programme of the government, the industrial units within the bounds of a city has to adopt the surrounding area for afforestation.

Thus social forestry is truly an afforestation programme where people are engaged and involved in expanding the green cover. It is done at the micro-level, so its efficiency can be very high. In true sense, social forestry is a sustainable development programme. Social forestry is also a poverty alleviation and rural development programme. For urban areas, it is the most sustainable environment programme. But, social forestry programme has failed to achieve the target.

Over the last 35-40 years, there has been policy emphasis on afforestation. Social afforestation programmes have even received some commendable success in the last 25 years or so but all these efforts have not been able to compensate the loss of forests over the same period of time.

Some recognizable success was seen in states having large wastelands like, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and a few others especially during 1980s. Response was appreciable during 1990s in West Bengal. But, other states practically failed to implement social forestry schemes effectively.

Three factors are held responsible for overall failure of social forestry schemes. There has not been proper information available with people in rural areas. Many still don’t know how they can contribute in making their environment and livelihood better by engaging with social forestry programme. Corruption and nepotism prevented dissemination of information to target group people.

Photo Credit: Prabhash K Dutta 

It was commonly found that the village or panchayat level political leaders took the benefits of the social forestry programme (as timber is very valuable) leaving out the target population. There is an urgent need to increase participation of people, who have been left behind in the promotion of this programme. There is need to organize workshops and hold training camps in rural areas to effectively communicate with the people living in villages.

Secondly, the plant species were not chose on according to the climate and weather suitability of the regions. There was no connection between the selection of crops and agro-climatic regionalization of the country. For example, coconut tree plantation was focused in Bihar and lot of resources was spent on it while the state does not have favourable climatic conditions for this.

Thirdly, there is no optimum village landuse map practically available. No landuse survey was done for decades after Independence. So, the selection of environmentally suitable species is difficult to find at policy making level. Besides, there is also a lack of politico-administrative commitment to achieve the target of social forestry.

The government took some other measures to improve green cover area of the country. These measures included, the National Forest Act, 1988. Before, this there was the Environmental Protection Act was there. Jhoom Farming Protection Act, 1976 was passed as a legislative measure to conserve forested areas.

The government also decided to conduct inflammability test of forest areas and put up fire breakers in forests. Preferences were given in giving LPG connections and supply of gas cylinders to forest areas so that tree cutting could be reduced. The recent Ujjwala Yojana of the central government has achieved great success and is expected to reduce tree felling significantly.

Forest towers were constructed to facilitate early sighting of forest fires and organized felling of trees by timber smugglers. Satellite imagining is being used to assess the forest cover of the country and specific regions periodically to keep a watch on the progress. The government has also taken steps to develop forest research centres to improve the quality of forest land and management of forests.

Photo Credit: Aarohi Dutta

The Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun, the Institute of Arid Zone Forestry Research, Jodhpur, the Indian Institute of Forest Management, the Institute of Deciduous forest, Jabalpur, the Institute of Wood Sciences Technology, Bengaluru, the Institute of Rain and Moist Deciduous Forest, Jorhat and the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore are some of the examples of the research centres developed by the government in its effort to give momentum to forestry in the country. 

Globalisation brought multi-national companies and private sector in the field of afforestation in India. The course of forestry was introduced in many universities.

In spite of these new approaches for nationwide afforestation programme, there is urgent need to bring some new scheme to make afforestation viable and effective. These may include:

1. Forestry course at all levels of education right from the school

2. Training and management programme to give a boost to afforestation and reduce deforestation

3. To educate villagers about the benefits of various schemes of forestation including social forestry

4. Ecologically viable plants and seeds and saplings should be provided at subsidized rate

5. Rapidly growing plant species needed to be emphasized in supply

6. There is need to bring land reform at village level which would bring a natural declaration of surplus land as village property designated for forest.

7. Village level land survey of landuse should be conducted to demarcate forest areas

8. Such programmes should be launched as to set target for panchayats with regard to development and afforestation

Private sector, cooperative societies, public enterprises and NGOs should be engaged at larger scale for promotion of afforestation.

Factors of Deforestation in India

Fig Tree. (Photo: MOEF GOI)

India has about 19 per cent of its area under forest while ecologically it should have had not less than 33 per cent of land under forest cover.

Although India is characterised by various types of forests but it is dwindling over a couple of centuries. Recent efforts at afforestation are but an aberration in the general trend of decades.

On an average 1.5 lakh hectare forest was lost every year between 1951 and 1980. The rate of deforestation between 1980 and 1990 was at 55,000 hectare a year while between 1990 and 1995, it stood at 4,500 hectare of 450 sq km.

Recently the rate of deforestation has declined due to two factors –

Some strong punitive measures have been taken to check deforestation.

Due to afforestation programmes, the scale of deforestation has been compensated a bit. In 1996, newly afforested area was equal in expanse to deforested area. Even the afforestation is taking place but the real acreage has been decreasing.

Deforestation is the result of a number of factors:

1   

      Agricultural progress – Two types of agricultural practices have been prevalent in India for long. These are shifting agriculture and plantation agriculture. A substantial portion of Indian population has lived in and near forests for centuries. They largely depended on gathering of forest produce to sustain their livelihood.

Now those who had gathering economy have shifted to a more settled economy. The shift in their economic practices necessitated cutting of forests. These people practiced shifting agriculture, which requires fresh and virgin land every few years.

Shifting agriculture proved to be a major factor causing wide-scale deforestation. Finally, this practice was declared illegal with laws like Jhoom Farming Prevention Act, 1976. Though, the practice continued for few more decades as it took lots of persuasion and in sensitizing people living in those areas about the legal and environmental consequences of shifting agriculture.

The effectiveness of the laws is not surmised but it has definitely contributed in slowing down the rate of deforestation. Tribal population growth rate has been very high. Nagaland has showed highest population growth rate for long. Swelling tribal population and need for more dwelling units in their homeland put more and more pressure on forest land which saw vanishing trees.

In the areas where plantation form of agriculture is practiced, deforestation has not much increased in last few decades. Sustained efforts by various governments have ensured that after 1980, plantation area is not increased by cutting down the forests.

After the World War I, tea and other crops brought more areas under plantation acreage in India. In Himachal Pradesh, open forest areas were given to tea plantation even till 1985-86. But, this practice has almost stopped completely.

2.       Fuel wood pressure – A 2015 report by Indiaspend.com said that more than 67 per cent rural households in India depended on firewood or wood chips. It also stated that over 95 per cent rural households in six states – Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal still used traditional fuel such as firewood, dung cakes and agricultural waste for cooking.

According to the Access to Clean Cooking Energy and Electricity Survey of States (ACCESS), only 14 per cent households in rural areas across six states surveyed used biogas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity or natural gas as their primary source for cooking.

Another IndiaSpend report said that the use of LPG increased 7.5 times between 1993-94 and 2011-12 in rural areas across India. About 2 per cent rural households used LPG in 1993-94 while about 15 per cent households used LPG in 2011-12.

This overdependence of vast majority of rural India has caused massive cutting of trees from forests – big and small. Many state governments have passed laws to declare cutting of trees for fuel illegal e.g. in Kerala, Garhwal area of Uttarakhand, most of northeastern states and states along Western Ghats.

3.       Resource utilisation pressure – Various industries and economic activities depend on utilisation of forest resources. Forest products are used and trees cut for paper and pulp industry, woodcraft, chemical and drug industries.

The pressure from woodcraft industry is particularly huge in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Wooden packing of fruits worked like an industry in itself till 1996 in the country. It was particularly taking toll on forests in the northeast and Himalayan states. The practice has become less intensive in recent years.

Tribal subsistence economy also promotes destruction of forests for resource purposes but they have not been able to make economically competitive use of forests.

The loss is much more in comparison to economic gain. The economic gains from forest dependent industries are short-term while the loss is permanent.

4.       Livestock pressure – Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are among the states which have witnessed serious deforestation on account of livestock pressure. It has caused indirect deforestation.

Trans-Himalayan tribes, as part of their traditional practice, take their livestock towards higher altitudes for grazing purposes during spring. Tall grasses could hardly emerge in the region.

Lack of tall grasses results in an ecological situation where horizon A of the soil is not properly developed. In that situation, the vegetation growth becomes scanty.

Continuous grazing on newly emerged grassy surface causes uprooting of grass which leads to soil erosion reducing the capacity of the soil surface to hold running or rainy water. This leads to deterioration of ground water table which ultimately causes decay of tree vegetation in the region.

5.       Development pressure – River valley projects have caused massive deforestation in India. About 4,97,000 hectare or 4,970 sq km forest was lost to river valley projects in the Himalayan region between 1952 and 1977.

Besides, about 1,27,000 hectare of forest was lost in the Himalayan region for large scale industries and another 57,000 hectare was lost to road construction in the same zone. Deforestation has continued for mining, railways, roadways, airports and helipads in the hilly regions.

Chhotanagpur region of Jharkhand has witnessed massive deforestation due to developmental pressure.

6.       Wild fires – Among other factors for deforestation, wild fires are major contributor. High inflammability of trees – especially the old ones - is one big reason for loss of forest. Collision of trees, branches due to high wind speed during hot summers causes huge wild fires in forests. Western Ghats have witnessed several such fires.

Human errors – forced and unforced, both – are also responsible for forest fires. This is a major cause for destruction of forests in tribal dominated areas. Throwing of untrashed beedis by tribals or cigarettes by tourists and other visitors has led to many wild fires.

It is suspected that such fires were deliberately caused by some people with vested interests. In some cases, terrorists and insurgents have created fires in forests to escape security forces or to serve their own purposes.

1993-94 was a bad year for forests. According to the Forest and Environment Ministry’s data 1,428 incidents of wild fires were reported from Maharashtra in 1993, 644 forest fires in Gujarat, 600 in Himachal Pradesh, 461 in Madhya Pradesh, 418 in Jammu and Kashmir, 258 in Uttar Pradesh, 112 in Kerala and 90 in Tamil Nadu.

 In April-May, 2016 forests of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh kept burning for several weeks. Some 1,600 incidents of fires were reported during the period. Air Force helicopters were pressed into use but did not help much to contain the fire. Finally, heavy rain on May 3 slowed down the fire, which went off after raging for few more days. About 4,048 hectare forest was lost to these fires.

7.        Illegal cutting of trees –Kerala is facing big problem due to cutting of trees on large scale. Problem is not less alarming in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states. Those who get the contracts for cutting of some trees, are suspecting to be the ones who have ended up damaging the forest the most by overcutting.

8.      Tree cutting by tribals – People living in the forest areas are generally those belonging to tribal groups of the Indian population. They have been cutting trees for various kinds of usage. Though, traditionally, such groups have been very forest-friendly but their age practices have become corrupt. Many have shed the old practice of planting more trees in their neighbourhood while continue to believe that cutting trees from forest is their inherited right.

9.       Population growth – Population growth rate in the hilly regions has been high. So, population pressure has caused damage to forests. Immigration in hilly regions is another reason contributing to population pressure on forests of such areas.

Resource Importance of Forests of India

Monkey sitting on the boundary separatist forest area from the city area in Haridwar. (Poor photography by Prabhash K Dutta)

India is among a few countries where all types of vegetation are found. Total enlisted tree species is about 5,000 in India. An estimated number of vegetation plant species is 15,000. Of the 500 tree species, only about 500 types are used – both directly and indirectly - for economic purposes in India. 

A large number of tree species is economically unused and their economic potential is untapped. They are categorised as wild trees. India’s forest resource is vast and diverse. Its share in nation’s GDP is about 4.5 per cent (1999). This shows the backwardness in the context of resource utilisation.

In 1951, forest production in terms of money was Rs 19 crore. In 1992, resource utilisation of forest was valued at Rs 3,800 crore. After 1992, India’s timber production has made rapid growth. India is the fourth (1999) largest timber producer of the world.

Indonesia is the leading producer of timber followed by Brazil and Malaysia. India’s forest-based economy is making progress but even then it is meager. Almost all types of vegetation in India have some economic importance but only a portion is used for economic purposes. (update – United States is the leading producer, followed by India now)

Equatorial forest has bright prospects in economy especially in respect of developing rubber and oil palm plantation. Presently rubber plantation is developed at large scale. India is the fifth largest rubber producer in the world.

In the Northeast India, rubber plantation is being developed under tribal community development schemes. Under monsoonal forest coverage, several social groups of India depend on forest resources. Tribal community’s economy is based on forest.

Vegetation under teak, sal, kendu and khair are put to direct use by tribal population. The largest acreage of teak is found in Madhya Pradesh. Teak is also the costliest tropical tree. Largest exporters and producers of teak, sal and kendu are Myanmar, Vietnam and Malaysia. Teak and sal are used in housing, furniture, railways (also in making sleeper, general bogie seats earlier) and boat making.

Sal is mainly grown in South Asia. Kendu leaves are used in Bidi industry. Large number of tribal communities of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal depend on this resource for their livelihood.

Khair’s largest acreage is found in Bihar (including Jharkhand) (1999 figure). It is commonly used as betel leaves in Bihar. Khair also has medicinal value.

Tribal communities in this part of the world are traditionally dependent on various kinds of wood for making umbrella, basket, toys and decorative goods. These items have been sold by the tribals in the local markets for centuries.

Under Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), which is a poverty eradication programme, tribal communities are provided proper training to make better use of leaves of trees like sal and a structured market is made available to them.

In Karnataka, there has been greater use of sandalwood in woodcraft industry where decorative goods are prepared. Sandalwood is used in chemical industry. Wood pieces are also used in various religious pursuits.

Bamboo and savai grass are two other monsoon forest products which are used in paper industry. Over 70 per cent of raw materials of paper industry in India come from bamboo and 15 per cent from savai grass. Thus, 85 per cent (1999 figures) of the raw materials of the paper industry come from monsoonal forest.

There has been indirect importance of forest. Mulberry species are used for domestication of silk worm or cocoon. This is, thus, possible in monsoon forest. Domestication of lac bugs for lac industry is done on mulberry trees. Mainly acacia species are used for lac bug domestication. Even the banyan and peepal trees are used for domestication of lac bugs.

Lac bugs cannot grow where temperature is above 20 degree Celsius and below 12 degree Celsius. So, the conditions are most suitable in south Bihar and Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Eastern Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and plateau regions of West Bengal and Karnataka.

Silk worm industry is dependent on deciduous forest. Silk worm industry is found even in Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya. Recently, silk worm domestication is emerging in Kashmir Valley. Mulberry plant is emerging in the Valley region. Among the Indian states, Karnataka is the largest producer of raw silk and silk textile.

China is the world leader in silk production and silk textile followed by India and Japan. In the field of artificial silk, Italy is the largest producer.

Lac production is highest in united Bihar. (1999). The National Research Lac Institute is situated at Namkum near Ranchi. It is the largest collecting and processing centre of lac. India is the largest exporter of lac in the world. India exports 52 per cent of world trade.

Himalayan forest is of high economic value. Siwalik Himalaya is more important economically. Teak, sal, bamboo and savai grass are of more economic use. Siwalik Himalayas is dense in comparison to other Himalayan forests.

Another advantage is that it is of low altitude, so its economic use is possible. In fact, forest-based economy has developed in Siwalik Himalaya region especially in Garhwal area of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. In these regions, wood craft industry is developed.

Lesser Himalaya and the lower slope of the Greater Himalaya are characterised by temperate and taiga woods. They are of economic use. Deodar covers 5.80 lakh square kilometers and largest acreage is found in Jammu and Kashmir. Pine acreage in Jammu and Kashmir is about 7,380 sq km. (all figures to be verified).

Both deodar and pine are used in paper and woodcraft industries. Other species of economic use are silver fur, blue pine and spruce. Spruce is used in paper industry. Greater and Lesser Himalayas forest resources are nearly unused and they have tremendous prospects of development. Sustainable development strategy may help in the proper utilisation of Himalayan forest.

Coastal forest in India is also of great economic value. Only mangrove is not of much economic use. Three important tree species – coconut, palm and cane are of much value.

India is the largest producer of coconut. What is required is to develop coconut-based industries. Coir-based, copra-based industries should also be developed using raw materials from coconut forest.

In Tamil Nadu, there is tremendous prospect to develop palm oil industry. Cane is used for making fishing boats.

India’s sub-tropical and arid regions’ vegetation types are yet to be properly surveyed from the resource point of view but cactus species are being recognized as the potential raw material for various chemical and drug industries.

Date palm is another prospective vegetation for economic use. Iraq and Iran produce sugar from date palm. Date palm vegetation may be developed as a raw material for sugar industry.

Acacia has also chemical and drug related significance. They may be used for domestication of new 

varieties of lac bugs. They are plants of quick growth and can be used for fuel (where LPG transportability is difficult for rough and undulating terrain) and fodder purposes.

It is obvious that the forest resource of India keeps bright prospect for future development. Presently, it is in under-developed situation.  It may be developed as an alternative economy for tribal and rural people. Several raw materials may be collected from the forest. What is required is to prepare a sustainable national policy for the development of forest resources.

Distribution of Forests in India

Forests are important for all forms of lives. (Photo: Prabhash K Dutta | New Delhi)

Total forest area in India is 64.01 million hectares – about 19 per cent of Indian territory (1999 figure).

Dense forest - 11 per cent

Open forest – 8 per cent. Grazing is permitted in an open forest.

Mangrove forest – 0.15 per cent

Indian forest is only 1.85 per cent of the total forest cover of the world. India has about 2.4 per cent of the total area and over 16 per cent of world’s population.

Under the existing policy of the government, 33 per cent of India should be under forest cover. Even the law of 33 per cent forest cover is not application in all parts of the country. Ideally, 60 per cent of the mountainous and plateau regions should be under forest cover while 20 per cent of the plain regions should have forest cover.

Distribution of forest in India is highly uneven. Maximum forest coverage is found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. As per 1994, 92 per cent of the total area in Andaman and Nicobar Islands was under the forest cover.

Mizoram had 88.7 per cent, Nagaland 86.5 per cent, Arunachal Pradesh 82 per cent, Manipur 78.9 per cent and Meghalaya had 70.3 per cent forest cover. (Data till 1999) These are the mountainous and hilly states and have above 60 per cent of area under forest cover.

At the other hand, forest coverage is below the required 60 per cent despite being mountainous regions. Examples are two-third of Tripura is mountainous region but has corresponding forest cover is only 52 .8 per cent. In the case of Sikkim, the entire state is mountainous but the forest cover is only 44.4 per cent.

Other states and union territories where forest cover is above national average are as follows:

Dadar and Nagar Haveli – 42 per cent

Goa + Daman and Diu – 36.2 per cent

Assam – 31.2 per cent

Madhya Pradesh + Chhattisgarh – 30.5 per cent

Odisha – 30.3 per cent

Kerala – 26.5 per cent

Himachal Pradesh – 23.7 per cent

There are six states where the forest cover is below the national average but above 10 per cent. These states are as follows:

Andhra Pradesh + Telangana – 17.2 per cent

Karnataka – 16.9 per cent

Bihar + Jharkhand – 15.3 per cent

Maharashtra – 14.3 per cent

Tamil Nadu – 13.6 per cent

Uttar Pradesh – 11.5 per cent

Remaining states and union territories have less than 10 per cent forest cover. These states’ forest cover is given below:

West Bengal – 9.2 per cent

Jammu and Kashmir – 9.2 per cent

Gujarat – 6.1 per cent

Chandigarh – 4.4 per cent

Rajasthan - 3.8 per cent

Punjab - 2.7 per cent

Delhi – 1.5 per cent

Haryana – 1.2 per cent

Going by the forest cover, Northwest India can easily be called the Yellow Region of the country. Punjab and Haryana are almost treeless states.

There has been intra-regional variation in the distribution of forest. Such variation is more prominent in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh have regions of different topography and consequently the plain areas have very low percentage of forest cover, very much like states of lower average state.

Many districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh where forest is below one per cent but Chhotanagpur of Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have higher forest cover. When Jharkhand was part of Bihar then it was a huge contrast to compare the forest cover of Chhotanagpur region and the rest of united Bihar.

While united Bihar’s average forest cover was 15.3 per cent while that of Chhotanagpur was 27 per cent. Same was the case in united Uttar Pradesh, which had an average forest cover of 11.5 per cent with eastern districts bordering Bihar had less than one per cent while Garhwal district had over 40 per cent of forest cover.

It is obvious that the distribution is characterised by inter-regional and intra-regional variations.